A LONG-established meat supplier with a site in Hampshire has been bought by a multinational food group for almost £24million.

Fairfax Meadow Europe, which owns the Tendercut meat processing and packing site in Chandlers Ford, has been taken over by Hilton Food Group.

Fairfax Meadow, which also has operations in North London, Derby and Milton Keynes, supplies some of the biggest businesses in the UK hospitality and travel sectors. It acquired Tendercut earlier this year.

Hilton Food Group said it had paid £23.8m to buy the company from Argent Holdings Ltd.

Hilton’s chief executive, Philip Heffer, said: “I am very pleased to announce the acquisition of Fairfax Meadow, the leading meat supplier to the UK foodservice sector.

“This transaction is all about growth. With its award-winning reputation, Fairfax Meadow represents a great opportunity for Hilton to expand into an adjacent and growing foodservice sector in the UK.

“It is another step towards our goal of becoming the protein partner of choice for every meal occasion – offering high quality, affordable, and rigorously sourced proteins for customers and consumers here in the UK and across the world.

“We look forward to leveraging Hilton’s expertise, reputation and investment to grow and expand the Fairfax business, and we plan to offer Hilton’s broad product range, including sous vide, seafood and alternative protein products, to Fairfax’s customers.”

Hilton supplies meat, fish, vegan and vegetarian foods and meals and employs more than 5,000 in 19 plants across 16 markets in Europe and Australasia.

Fairfax Meadow managing director Penny Tomlinson said: “I’m delighted that Fairfax Meadow will be joining Hilton Food Group. Fairfax Meadow is built on a foundation of longstanding, strong, customer and supplier relationships which we will continue to develop as we move forward together.

“Philip and the team at Hilton have followed our progress closely over the past few years and by joining forces now, we will have the right platform and investment for the next phase of Fairfax Meadow’s growth.

“With Hilton’s retail supply chain expertise, quality management and leading sustainability standards, together with our longstanding reputation for butchery and foodservice excellence, this is a fantastic opportunity. I am excited for the next stage of our development as I continue to lead Fairfax Meadow within the Hilton family and to seeing the positive impact for our teams, our customers and our suppliers.

“I want to thank Argent Food Group for their support in making Fairfax Meadow the UK’s favourite foodservice catering butcher.”