Hilton Food Group (Hilton) has entered a 50:50 joint venture (JV) agreement with Portuguese food retailer Sonae Modelo Continente (Sonae).

The new JV will continue business under SOHI Meat Solutions.

According to the agreement, Hilton will be working with Sonae to re-develop the production facilities of its packing and sourcing subsidiary Sonae Centro Processamento Carnes (CPC), which supplies Sonae stores in Portugal.

"Our progress in Portugal demonstrates further the strength of Hilton’s flexible and versatile business model, enabling us to meet the local requirements of our customers in their territories."

CPC currently sources approximately 1,000t of packaged meat products a week. The goods manufactured from this plant include mince, roasting joints and other beef and pork based products.

Hilton CEO Robert Watson said: “Our progress in Portugal demonstrates further the strength of Hilton’s flexible and versatile business model, enabling us to meet the local requirements of our customers in their territories.

“This now extends our presence to 15 countries, and we will continue to look for further opportunities for geographic expansion.”

SOHI Meat will be supplying products to all Sonae’s grocery stores and the partners anticipate that the new JV would enhance distribution to the Portuguese market.

Sonae commercial director Eunice Silva said: “We are pleased that the partnership has progressed to a full JV agreement in Portugal, which will enable us to strengthen the leadership position of Continente further in the development of innovation and the sustainable promotion of the agro-food business in Portugal.”

The re-development of the production facility is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of this year.

The facility requires an initial €22m investment and will be financed principally by the JV partners.