Cumbrian firm Caterite has been bought by a German food wholesale giant.
Metro, which operates in more than 30 countries, has acquired the Cumbrian food and wine delivery service for an undisclosed sum.
The firm said it hoped to make use of Caterite’s regional focus on the ‘tourist-rich’ Lake District to expand its activities into the north of the UK.
Caterite will initially continue to operate under the established brands and in its existing form – but will work together with the Metro-owned Classic Fine Foods UK in areas such as assortment, sourcing, knowledge transfer and logistics.
Classic Fine Foods UK is a foodservice distribution specialist that supplies customers in the greater London area, South West and central parts of the UK.
Metro said it hoped the collaboration between both its foodservice specialists will allow the firm to accelerate its nationwide expansion.
Caterite, based in Embleton, near Cockermouth, supplies over 2,000 hotel, restaurant and catering customers and offers a mix of locally and internationally sourced food, complemented with products from its own processing and production facilities.
It is a family-run business that has grown rapidly over the years after it first launched as a mobile shop in 1947.
It has around 200 employees and in 2023 it generated £44 million in sales.
It offers a range of fresh and frozen food, groceries and products under the Caterite brand as well as beverages under its Grapevine brand. It also owns one of the UK’s largest salt chambers.
Caterite and Grapevine supply hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes across the Lake District and beyond from its three sites and fleet of 70 trucks.
Guillaume Deruyter, member of the management board of Metro AG and responsible for the foodservice delivery businesses, said: “We are delighted to welcome the successful food service specialist Caterite as another member of our international foodservice delivery family.
“In addition to their strong local roots, the employees and management also bring a high level of expertise in the delivery business, and we warmly welcome them.
“Metro sees the acquisition as an opportunity to grow in the attractive UK hotel, restaurant and catering market and to create synergies with Classic Fine Foods UK.
“This brings us closer to our strategic goal of successively expanding the share of delivery in total sales.”
