Hydroponic tomato grower Backyard Farms, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in February, was sold to Mastronardi Produce Ltd., of Kingsville, Ontario for an undisclosed amount.
Backyard Farms, which is in Madison, has 215 employees and revenue of less than $100 million.
In a joint announcement Friday morning, the two companies said Mastronardi is North America’s leading grower and distributor of specialty and commodity greenhouse produce. It operates under the Sunset brand.
“Backyard Farms will now be a wholly-owned affiliate of Mastronardi,” Michael Aalto, spokesman for FMR LLC, the former owner of Backyard Farms and the parent company of Fidelity Investments, told Mainebiz in an email. “Regarding price, we are not disclosing financial terms of the deal.”
The Backyard Farms brand name is to be retained, and the greenhouse operations in Madison are to continue uninterrupted, the companies said, adding that the combined companies will be better positioned to serve the underrepresented Northeastern U.S. region.
Adding Backyard Farms will increase Mastronardi’s internal greenhouse network to six locations in North America and boost its headcount to 3,000 employees. Backyard Farms President Stuart Jablon said the acquisition will take his company’s business to the next level to reach more customers.
Backyard Farms ships up to 500,000 pounds of tomatoes weekly and 30 million pounds annually, Jablon told Mainebiz during a February interview and factory tour. Its greenhouses cover 42 acres.
