INDIANAPOLIS – FreshEdge, a family of produce and specialty food companies backed by Rotunda Capital Partners, acquired City Produce, a fresh food distributor headquartered in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. For many years, City Produce has been serving North Central Florida, the Florida Panhandle, and central to southern Alabama distributing fresh fruits and vegetables, including an array of fresh-cut offerings, dairy, meats, seafoods, specialty foods, and more. City Produce operates out of two facilities, one in Fort Walton Beach, and a second in Foley, Alabama.
The addition expands FreshEdge’s footprint into the southern United States and provides space and logistical support to better serve its customer base as it spreads farther south. City Produce joins Piazza Produce & Specialty Foods, Indianapolis Fruit, Get Fresh Produce, McCartney Produce, Monteverde’s, Valley Produce, Vine Line, Garden Cut, CIBUS Fresh and Papania’s.
FreshEdge now operates with more than 2,000 employees, approximately 808,500 square feet of warehouse space, and a fleet of more than 720 trucks.
“We welcome Tommy Sundy and his amazing team to the FreshEdge family of companies,” said Steve Grinstead, CEO of FreshEdge. “We are excited for this great company to join FreshEdge as we expand farther into the Southeast.”
Terms of the deal, which closed on May 10, 2022, were not disclosed. The transaction strengthens the combined business’s presence in Florida and southern Alabama.
“City Produce will be a great addition to our expanding group of ‘best in class’ fresh food distribution companies,” said Greg Corsaro, president and COO of FreshEdge. “We look forward to Tommy’s continued leadership at City Produce.”
“Our City Produce team is excited to join the FreshEdge family – knowing we’ll be ‘better together’,” said Tommy Sundy, president. “This is the next step in increasing our footprint, serving customers with expanded offerings and growing for our future.”
FreshEdge is backed by Rotunda Capital Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm focused on investments in founder and family held companies. Rotunda seeks to provide opportunities for management teams to reach strategic, financial, and operational objectives. Rotunda entered the food business in 2017 with the acquisition of Indianapolis Fruit and Piazza Produce. FreshEdge was created in 2019 when Get Fresh Produce joined the platform. City Produce represents FreshEdge’s seventh acquisition since Rotunda’s initial investment. Together, Rotunda and FreshEdge intend to continue expanding FreshEdge by welcoming more companies into the group—all focused on high quality produce and specialty food products, along with exceptional service—to create a unique group of complementary entities.
About FreshEdge
FreshEdge was formed in 2019 through the combination of Get Fresh Produce (founded 1982) and the IF&P Foods family of companies, primarily composed of Indianapolis Fruit (founded 1947) and Piazza Produce (founded 1970). McCartney Produce (Paris, TN) joined the FreshEdge family in November 2020 followed by Valley Produce (Knoxville, TN) in June 2021, Vine Line (Grand Rapids, MI) in October 2021, and Monteverde’s (Pittsburgh, PA) in November 2021. Collectively, these leading fresh food distribution companies have nearly 500 years of combined experience serving the grocery and food service industries. FreshEdge includes two Garden Cut branded fresh-cut processing facilities, a tomato re-packer, a USDA fresh kitchen (CIBUS Fresh), and two transportation companies. FreshEdge’s fleet resource includes more than 720 trucks servicing the Midwest and beyond from 12 facilities totaling approximately 808,500 square feet of warehouse space. Today, FreshEdge is one of the largest independent fresh food distributors in the United States and a category leader in providing both the foodservice and retail industries with fruit, vegetables, proteins, fresh grab-n-go offerings, dairy, floral, and specialty products. For more information, visit www.freshedgefoods.com.
About Rotunda Capital Partners
Rotunda Capital Partners is an operationally oriented private equity firm focused on transforming family-founder owned companies into dynamic, data-driven platforms able to achieve and manage significant growth. Since its founding in 2009, Rotunda has partnered with management teams to build great businesses within three primary sectors: value-added distribution, asset-light logistics and industrial & business services. Rotunda strives to achieve replicable results by implementing its Rotunda Performance System to create strategic alignment, develop lean processes and create robust, data-driven infrastructures. For more information, visit www.rotundacapital.com.
