GrubMarket Acquires Largest Asian Squash Provider in U.S.
GrubMarket, a provider of tech-enabled B2B food e-commerce and enterprise AI solutions for the food supply chain industry, has completed the acquisition of Vernon, Calif.-based Best Oriental Produce, a fresh produce company that owns a 700-hectare farming operation across California and Mexico, where it produces vegetables year-round. As well as being the largest Asian squash provider in the United States, Best Oriental Produce is the single largest importer of young coconut from Thailand into this country and the largest Chinese eggplant grower globally: The company grows and ships more than 46,000 cases of Chinese eggplant each month, moving up to 10 full truckloads daily from Mexico.
Founded more than 35 years ago by fresh produce vet Ben Charoensuk, Best Oriental Produce is now a large-scale produce import and export business that grows a wide range of Asian produce, including bitter melon, Chinese eggplant, long bean and Asian squash, in broad open-field farms and greenhouse facilities. The company also operates a PrimusGFS-certified warehouse facility that measures nearly 25,000 square feet and provides state-of-the-art refrigeration capabilities. Best Oriental Produce serves many major supermarket and retail chains across California, New York, Chicago and Florida, along with other regions throughout the United States and Canada. The company has cultivated enduring relationships with many of its biggest customers, enabling it to stay highly profitable since its founding. Following the acquisition, the business will continue to be managed by its current seasoned leadership team.
“I have been passionate about growing and providing delicious Asian fruits and vegetables to a wide consumer base ever since I moved to the U.S. from Thailand nearly 40 years ago,” said Charoensuk. “When I started this business, I never expected it to grow as big as it has become. Today, we are the largest Chinese eggplant grower in the world and likely the largest Asian produce provider nationwide. We have been thoughtful and deliberate about our growth strategy, which has allowed us to optimize for stellar customer service and long-standing customer relationships. As part of the close-knit fresh produce community in Southern California, we have heard amazing things about GrubMarket for many years and were impressed with their track record of acquiring only the best and most reputable companies in the industry. I am excited to combine our dominance in key, high-demand SKUs with GrubMarket’s enormous scale and technology capabilities, to help GrubMarket on its journey to being the most impactful food supply chain company in the world.”
Added GrubMarket CEO Mike Xu: “Best Oriental Produce is one of the strongest businesses we have acquired, and Ben is one of the most impressive leaders we have welcomed to our company. Remarkably, Ben has been able to steer Best Oriental Produce to a spotless profitability record; in 35 years of existence, the business never lost money and was highly profitable the entire time. On top of that, Best Oriental Produce has dominant supply positions across many in-demand items like Asian squash, Chinese eggplant and Thai coconuts, and most of its top customers have been doing business with the company for over 15 years. This acquisition enables GrubMarket to strengthen its presence in Southern California. We are thrilled to welcome the Best Oriental Produce team to the GrubMarket family.”
As a part of GrubMarket’s portfolio, Best Oriental Produce will be able to take advantage of GrubMarket’s suite of proprietary technology solutions, among them AI-powered ERP software, WholesaleWare, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that gives food industry wholesalers, distributors and shippers seamless financial management, powerful sales support, online ordering, precise inventory management, lot traceability, grower accounting, and automated routing and logistics; GrubAssist, an enterprise AI assistant that offers food supply chain businesses deep insights, intelligent analysis, and automated order processing; Orders IO, a custom-branded mobile e-commerce solution connecting sellers and buyers; and GrubPay, a digital payments offering designed especially for the food supply chain industry.
GrubMarket’s most recent acquisitions before Best Oriental Produce include Butter, a San Francisco-based VC-backed food wholesale software operating system designed to become the modern system of record for food distribution, and Performance Produce, a Salisbury, N.C.-based vertically integrated fresh produce business that sells more than 80 items to nearly 100 retail customers across the Southeast.
San Francisco-based GrubMarket operates in all 50 states and has a global presence in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Mexico, South Africa and Spain, with plans to expand further across the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Africa and other parts of the world.
