INDIANAPOLIS, IN – KESI Management, a food and beverage company that specializes in providing comprehensive and tailored full-service solutions to the food and beverage industry, joined FreshEdge, a family of best-in-class fresh food distribution companies. Founded in 2018 by Austin Kirtley and Mehrdad Erfan, KESI Management’s solutions cover a wide range of areas, including operations, management, logistics, finance, and more, addressing various touchpoints and levels within the industry.
FreshEdge and KESI Management have been collaborating over the last four years, with KESI’s team of industry experts helping to identify, implement, and sustain operational, supply chain and engineering initiatives across multiple FreshEdge companies. Their extensive knowledge of the produce, manufacturing, and distribution sectors has allowed for continued best-in-class processes to be used within FreshEdge.
Austin Kirtley will come on board as the Executive Vice President of Business Performance. His focus will be working closely with FreshEdge’s operating company leaders and management teams to ensure the continued success of each company while continually maintaining the values of FreshEdge and the uniqueness of each company within.
“Over the last four years, we have had the opportunity to witness the culture, growth, and leadership at FreshEdge and their family of companies, and we knew that it would be a great fit when Greg and Steve asked us to be a part of that,” said Kirtley. “With KESI Management’s experience in the industry and familiarity with the FreshEdge team, we knew it would be a great opportunity for our teams to collaborate even more to see FreshEdge meet and surpass their goals into the future.”
Mehrdad Erfan will be the Executive Vice President of Operations, Logistics, and Engineering, where he will work in collaboration with his team to continually support the entire FreshEdge platform by ensuring the growth and sustainability of a best-in-class operation in our industry.
“Over the years, we have continued to work with top-tier companies to continue to push the produce industry in the direction of change, innovation, and sustainability, and we believe that together with the direction and support of the entire FreshEdge team and family of companies, we will be able to continue to build towards those goals,” said Erfan.
Along with Mehrdad and Austin, Dustin Varvil (another partner in KESI Management) and both Amanda Spencer and Anthony Mitchell will be joining the FreshEdge team.
“We are thrilled to have the outstanding members of KESI join FreshEdge,” said Greg Corsaro, President of FreshEdge. “Their addition to our team enhances our culture and customer-obsessed pursuit of driving success for our customers.”
“We welcome the KESI team to the FreshEdge family of best-in-class companies,” said Steve Grinstead, CEO of FreshEdge. They have awesome experience and passion that fits perfectly with our focus on continuous improvement and desire to be the best at everything we do.”
About FreshEdge
FreshEdge is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, and was established in 2019 with the combination of Indianapolis Fruit and Piazza Produce in Indianapolis and Get Fresh Produce in Bartlett, IL. Since then, numerous other best-in-class distribution companies and their respective value-added operations have joined the FreshEdge family, growing it into a super-regional leader in the fresh food industry with a focus on fresh produce and specialty food items. FreshEdge’s footprint spans twenty-five states throughout the Midwest and southeastern United States. Together, Wind Point and FreshEdge intend to continue growing FreshEdge by welcoming more fresh food distribution 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.
Additional information about FreshEdge is available at www.freshedgefoods.com.
About Wind Point
Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $6 billion in assets under management. The firm focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams to acquire well-positioned middle market businesses where it can establish a clear path to value creation. Founded in 1984, Wind Point is one of the oldest private equity firms in Chicago and an early adopter in developing a partnership model to align with top operating talent in private equity investments. Today, the firm’s Executive Advisor Partner (“EAP”) network is comprised of more than 40 high-caliber executives who are closely aligned with Wind Point and contribute across all aspects of the firm’s investment process.
Wind Point targets investments in the business services, consumer products and industrial products industries. Since inception, Wind Point has deployed ten private equity buyout funds in partnership with leading institutional investors around the world, including public pensions, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, fund of funds and family offices.
Additional information about Wind Point is available at www.windpointpartners.com.
