FreshEdge, a family of fresh food distribution companies, including four fresh-cut processing operations and a USDA fresh kitchen, was purchased earlier this month by Chicago-based Wind Point Partners, from Rotunda Capital Partners.
FreshEdge’s footprint spans 21 states throughout the Midwest and Southeastern United States. FreshEdge provides customized quality fresh food solutions to its foodservice, institutional, and retail customers via dependable, customer-centric strategies, industry expertise, product diversity, and cutting-edge technology with a sense of family and trust.
Industry veterans, Steve Grinstead and Greg Corsaro, will continue to lead FreshEdge as chief executive officer and chief operating officer and president, respectively, as FreshEdge continues its aggressive expansion strategy.
“We are excited to partner with Wind Point Partners and look forward to continuing our growth strategy,” Grinstead said. “We are grateful to the Minneapolis office of Harris Williams for leading us through this process in such an organized and professional manner resulting in a great outcome.”
FreshEdge brings together a strong group of operating company presidents steeped in life-long fresh food distribution experience, all of whom share FreshEdge’s vision for customer obsession and delivery of quality fresh food solutions with a sense of family and trust. This group supported by a robust infrastructure of finance, legal, integration, IT and human resource professionals, are poised to carry FreshEdge into its next chapter, one of excitement and growth.
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 comprised 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, Monteverde’s (Pittsburgh, PA) in November 2021, and City Produce (Fort Walton Beach, FL) in May 2022. Collectively, these leading fresh food distribution companies have nearly 500 years of combined experience serving the grocery and food service industries. FreshEdge includes a collection of Garden Cut branded fresh-cut processing facilities (Bartlett, Fort Walton Beach, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh), a tomato re-packer, a USDA fresh kitchen (CIBUS Fresh), and two transportation companies. FreshEdge’s fleet resource includes more than 830 trucks domiciling across 25 facilities totaling approximately 795,000 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.
