Get Fresh Produce, a Bartlett-based distributor of fresh produce, fresh-cut items and specialty products, has been acquired by IF&P Foods, a private equity-backed family of produce and specialty food companies based out of Indianapolis.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to diversify the group’s combined customer base and increase its breadth and depth of services throughout Chicago and the entire Midwest region. Get Fresh will operate in tandem with Indianapolis Fruit, Piazza Produce and Specialty Foods and Papania Produce to maximize quality and customer support across the region.
This transaction positions the combined group of companies as one of the largest independent produce and specialty food distributors in its market. Founded in 1982 as a retail produce store in Chicago, Get Fresh grew to become a distributor of fresh produce, fresh-cut items and specialty products to foodservice and retail customers in Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and Western and Central Indiana. It has locations in Bartlett and Whitestown, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis.
Gino Alimondi will continue to lead Get Fresh as president, and the company’s operations will carry on from its primary facility in Bartlett, as well as from its other distribution centers.
IF&P distributes similar products throughout the Midwest to both the retail and foodservice segments through Indianapolis Fruit, Piazza and Papania’s. In addition to selling and distributing produce and specialty items to the retail and foodservice industries, the companies will continue to maintain in-house fresh cut processing and USDA fresh kitchen operations.
The combined group of companies will be led by Steve Grinstead as CEO and Greg Corsaro as president and COO and backed by Rotunda Capital Partners, a Bethesda, Maryland-based private equity firm that invests long-term equity capital in established lower middle-market companies.
