Fortune International has acquired EuroGourmet, a St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.A.-based distributor of premium specialty foods, with a focus on the pastry category.
Bensenville, Illinois, U.S.A.-headquartered Fortune International is the parent company of Fortune Fish and Gourmet, a processor and distributor of fresh, live and frozen seafood and gourmet foods. The acquisition was finalized on 1 March and announced on 4 March.
The acquisition will expand Fortune Fish and Gourmet’s pastry program, according to Fortune International President and CEO Sean O’Scannlain.
“Pastry category growth is a focus of ours in 2020,” he said in a press release. “Last year, we hired Girish Fatnani, one of the nation’s leading pastry professionals, and with the addition of EuroGourmet, we have a strong base to solidify ourselves in the pastry category.”
O’Scannlain confirmed Fortune will continue to operate the Eurogourmet business from its Missouri facility, which will receive an upgrade to Fortune’s ERP, inventory management, and routing software systems, and advanced automation technology. The Eurogourmet name will be phased out as it is integrated with Fortune Fish and Gourmet, he said.
Founded in 2000 by Didier Villard, EuroGourmet serves hotels, casinos, restaurants, caterers, and grocery stores. Villard will be retained by Fortune International as a consultant and will continue to operate Technobake, a maker of wooden baking bowls, which was not part of the sale.
“The most important aspect for me was to find a company that aspires to the same values of ‘Service Par Excellence’ that we have provided our customers for over 20 years,” Villard said. “I am extremely proud and happy that Fortune Fish and Gourmet shares those same values and services their customers with the utmost attention.”
Fortune International embarked upon an acquisition strategy in 2012, and the EuroGourmet transaction is Fortune’s fifth acquisition in the last eleven months. Investcorp, a Bahrain-based investment group, took a majority stake in Fortune in February, investing USD 105 million (EUR 95.1 million)
