March based Fenmarc – which last year boosted turnover 13 per cent to nearly £100million – has sold one of its businesses based in Lincolnshire.

The company announced today that Produce World has bought its roots division at Swinderby which packs root vegetables, primarily carrots and parsnips. Its 80 employees, at busy times such as Christmas, can pack up to 150 tonnes a day.

Neil Fraser, executive chairman of Produce World Group said: “We are confident that this move will further strengthen our position in the market, firmly establishing it as the UK’s leading grower and supplier of root vegetables.”

“We already have considerable experience in the roots market, both at our conventional site at Isleham and our specialist organic site at Yaxley.”

Mark Harrod, owner of Fenmarc Produce said: “We conducted a strategic review and decided to sell the roots business. We have developed our conversations with Produce World on an exclusive basis. It’s a great fit with their business.

“We are working together to make the handover as smooth as possible from everyone’s point of view, and to continue to meet the needs of customers.”

Earlier this year Fenmarc reported its annual turnover had increased but profits had slipped. One reason was the poor harvest of 2012 which had hit the company’s profits which were down from £2.8million in 2012 to £1.9million in 2013.

Richard Anderson, Fenmarc managing director said that the wettest season in many years “had a significant impact on both raw material availability and purchase price. “The board put various initiatives in place to mitigate the impact, which helped deliver a satisfactory result for the year.”

But, speaking earlier this year, he said the directors “remain confident of the future, and in the company’s ability to take advantages of opportunities as they arise with new customers.”