GrubMarket continues acquisition tear

Dive Brief:

E-grocer GrubMarket has completed the acquisition of organic produce provider Organic Harvest Network, according to a company press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Organic Harvest Network represents produce growers and offers services such as crop planning, sales and marketing and logistics. It also connects retail and wholesale buyers with produce growers. With this acquisition, GrubMarket will provide Organic Harvest Network with additional technology resources and a larger consumer base.
Organic Harvest Network’s headquarters will continue to operate in Northern California, and will maintain its current leadership, the companies said.

Dive Insight:

GrubMarket is in acquisition mode right now, with this deal marking its third already for 2020. In January, GrubMarket acquired restaurant supplier EJ Food Distributor and produce box company Eating with the Seasons.

With GrubMarket as a partner, Organic Harvest Network will get a resource boost and will also have access to a wider swath of customers on the West Coast, where San Francisco-based GrubMarket is focused. The produce company has a long history of sourcing from family farms and organic growers.

The advantage for GrubMarket in acquiring Organic Harvest is a wider product assortment of organic produce to offer to its shoppers that can be traced to those farms. GrubMarket CEO Mike Xu said the company has long been impressed with Organic Harvest Network’s deep connections to organic farms and their corporate integrity.

"They sell some of the most exceptional, organic produce directly from farms to many of the largest national grocery chains," Xu said in a statement.

GrubMarket, which focuses on organic, farm-to-table products, has been steadily expanding its operations beyond San Francisco and Los Angeles. In December, GrubMarket acquired farm-to-table service Doorganics to bring its business to the Midwest for the first time.

Since 2018, GrubMarket has also acquired several California companies including wholesale distributor Chasin Foods, specialty food supplier VIP Wholesale and produce supplier So Cal Farm Networks to further its capabilities.