US Foods has agreed to acquire fruit and vegetable processor and distributor, Freshway Foods for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 1988, Ohio-based Freshway Foods cuts, cleans, chops, and packages raw produce for distribution to customers throughout the eastern half of the U.S. The company also has an implemented “farm-to-fork” safety protocol that ensures food safety compliance along the supply chain from the farmer to the consumer according to a recent press release announcing the deal.
“Since we started this business, our success has been built upon our commitment to our associates and our customers and we are looking forward to the next chapter for Freshway Foods as part of a well-established and reputable company like US Foods,” said owners Phil and Frank Gilardi.
This deal marks a continuation of acquisitions and strategic maneuvers by US Foods since its $3.5 billion acquisition by Sysco Corp was abandoned in response to being blocked by anti-trust regulators early last year. The controversial $3.5 billion merger deal, which was announced in December 2013, would have combined the only two companies in the country able to offer and fulfill nationwide contracts to deliver foods to restaurants, hospitals and hotels. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claimed that the merger would have eliminated competition within the market, and would have created higher prices for customers that would need to order all food and supplies from a single distributor, leading the commission to file a lawsuit to block the merging of the two companies.
Since then, In December 2015 US Foods agreed to acquire Dierks Waukesha – a supplier of fresh produce and vegetables to restaurants, caterers, schools, and institutions across Northern Illinois, Upper Michigan, and Eastern Minnesota with annual sales topping $120 million.
Then in February of this year, US Foods announced it agreed to acquire the assets of Cara Dona Provision Co. – a wholesale distributor of food and food-related products across the New England region of the U.S., while that same month, announced that it had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO) reported to be seeking to raise $1 billion.
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GAI News staff