Greencore has just begun to live its American dream

Greencore is aiming to build a US operation on a similar scale to its multi-million-pound UK business in the next 10-20 years, its new US boss has revealed.

Fergal Leamy, who took the helm of Greencore USA last month following the firm's acquisition of Massachusetts-based Home Made Brand Foods (HMBF), said: "We didn't just come to the US to buy one factory; we're looking to create a business with real scale."

He added: "We have spent two years assessing the market opportunities in the US and identified more than 200 potential acquisitions, which we narrowed down to 10-15, so we are looking at a range of further acquisition opportunities. "However, we could also build our own plants on greenfield sites."

Unlike Tesco, which has launched its assault on the US market on the west coast, Greencore was focusing on the north-east and the mid-west, said Leamy. "However, we have been talking to Tesco and, should our geographies overlap in future, we would talk about opportunities to work together."

The immediate priority was boosting sales at HMBF from $40M to $100M, he said. "There are several ways we'll do this. One is through brand licensing deals - producing branded products under contract like we do in the UK with Weight Watchers. Another is identifying new retail customers who want to work with us after seeing what we've done in the UK. A third is driving business with existing customers such as Hannaford and Stop & Shop."

Currently, HMBF supplies more than 250 lines from desserts to dips, pizza, ready meals, salads and sandwiches, although 80% of the sales were from the top 50 lines, said Leamy. "It's more like a large commissary kitchen than the kind of facilities we operate. I'd say most chilled factories here are a little bit behind where we are in the UK."

Chilled distribution networks were also less advanced, he said. "Logistics companies here are generally set up to transport ambient or frozen goods, although distributors are starting to invest in more chilled facilities."

The short-term plan for HMBF was to focus on three core areas: salads, sandwiches and ready meals, with longer product runs and higher volumes, he said.

"We're also going to bring our technical and operational expertise into play with the introduction of lean manufacturing and our total lowest cost approach."

The HMBF factory, which has just been extended, had a "very flexible layout", he added. "There is room for us to put in new lines."