Uddingston, Scotland-based Scotch Frost of Glasgow Ltd (SF) has been purchased by Zen-Noh, a Japanese federation of 1,173 agricultural cooperatives and allied enterprises that promotes itself as a “trusted and reliable go-between linking producers and consumers.” Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Scotch Frost, a distributor to Chinese and other Asian ethnic foodservice businesses in the United Kingdom and Ireland for more than 40 years, imports frozen and non-frozen food and beverage products from suppliers around the world. Its extensive range, which exceeds 2,000 lines, runs the gamut from fish and seafood to poultry, pork, beef, rice, vegetables and cooking oil. Annual turnover is approximately £55 million.
Incorporated within the SF Group are trading divisions comprised of L+T Frozen Foods based in Glasgow, Asian Harvest Foods Newcastle, Asian Harvest Foods North London, Avalon Seafoods North London, Asian Harvest Foods Inverness and Asian Harvest Foods Ireland.
Founded in 1972, Zen-Noh is the marketing and supply division of the JA Group. Employing more than 12,500 people and reportedly generating combined annual revenue of about $60 billion last year, the company deals in fertilizers, agrichemicals, petroleum products and LP gas as well as packaged foodstuffs. Additionally, it operates yakiniku barbecue meat restaurants that specialize in serving Japanese Wagu beef in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, England and the USA.
Commenting on the acquisition, Scotch Frost Director Derrick Louden said: “Having the backing of the Zen-Noh cooperative will give us the platform to further increase our presence in the UK, whilst also providing Zen-Noh access to a comprehensive distribution network and a route to market for its high end Japanese products in the UK.”
