Harlech Foodservice has guaranteed the jobs of the 25 staff at Oren Foods in Penrhyndeudraeth in Gwynedd. Oren Foods supplies Gwynedd and Anglesey schools, care homes, restaurants, hotels, cafes, nursing homes and B&Bs across North Wales.
David Cattrall, managing director at Harlech Foodservice, said: “Adding fresh fruit and vegetables to our offer fills a gap for our customers. It’s always been our ambition to be a total range supplier and buying up a well-established and respected local business fills a gap in our range of products.
“All the staff at Oren have been offered their job on the same terms and that’s something we were committed to from the start of our discussions. By September we will have fully integrated Oren into Harlech’s main site and those Oren staff that are happy to come down the road will be made welcome and it’s our hope that they will all come.”
Oren, which is Welsh for orange, was launched 45 years ago as Ffrwythau DJ Fruit by Dei and Cheryl Jones from their existing greengrocers in Cricieth. The company was rebranded as Oren in 2021 and for the past 12 years the business has been run by their son Gethin Dwyfor.
He added: “My dream was for a partnership with a locally based company and that has happened and it was always going to be a condition that our staff could keep their jobs and Harlech have always given that assurance.
“I will stay on and continue to be involved and that’s very exciting for me as well. I’ve run the business for 12 years and this will now be a new challenge for me with a bigger business.”