SAN FRANCISCO, CA - It seems like just yesterday that GrubMarket acquired the Michigan-based farm-to-table delivery service Doorganics. This week, though, the e-commerce player is further building out its West Coast expansion, announcing the acquisition of the Northern California-based companies EJ Food Distributor and Eating with the Seasons.
According to a press release, EJ Food Distributor specializes in sourcing and delivering a rich variety of dry goods exclusively for restaurants across Northern California. This acquisition will allow GrubMarket to further expand its product categories offered to restaurants, by adding a sales layer of unique specialty dry goods that will complement its other existing food category offerings.
"We've been aware of GrubMarket's rapidly growing wholesale presence for a couple of years, and we are incredibly excited to join the GrubMarket Team and become part of the incredible technological disruption currently taking place in the massive, yet fairly old-fashioned, food wholesale industry," said Johnson Quan, CEO of EJ Food Distributor.
The second acquired company, Eating with the Seasons, provides its customers with customizable produce boxes comprised of products from its grower-partners. GrubMarket's acquisition of this company follows in the footsteps of its acquisition of Doorganics, as it continues to successfully identify and invest in reputable and established food delivery services with profitable business models. As a result of this acquisition, GrubMarket will provide Eating with the Seasons with technological and e-commerce expertise to further grow Eating with the Seasons across Northern California.
"GrubMarket has great respect for local CSA (community-supported agriculture) programs, and Eating with the Seasons is one of the most prominent CSA programs in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Mike Xu, CEO of GrubMarket. “As a rapidly growing e-commerce farm-to-table company, we are not aiming to outcompete the smaller CSA programs like some other e-commerce players have recently done. Instead, we would like to foster these local CSA programs and protect the integrity of the local food ecosystem that has been in existence for a very long time."
Lastly, both EJ Food Distributor and Eating with the Seasons will transition their technology foundations to the GrubMarket software ecosystem. This includes a sophisticated online grocery e-commerce platform as well as WholesaleWare, which is the company's new Software-as-a-Service platform providing food industry suppliers and vendors with seamless financial management, easy-to-use online ordering, sales functionality, precise inventory management, and engaging CRM tools.
What’s next on the acquisition front for GrubMarket? Follow along with us at AndNowUKnow to find out.
