Harbor Wholesale Acquires MTC Distributing

Combined companies can service customers from Canadian border to north of Los Angeles

11/28/2022

According to Harbor Wholesale and MTC Distributing, their “combined 200 years of market leadership forms the premier customer-focused and family-owned distribution company on the West Coast.”

Pacific Northwest family-owned independent distributor Harbor Wholesale has acquired Modesto, Calif.-based MTC Distributing Co. According to the companies, their “combined 200 years of market leadership forms the premier customer-focused and family-owned distribution company on the West Coast.”

Noted Justin Erickson, CEO and fourth-generation owner of Lacey, Wash.-based Harbor: “This is an incredible opportunity to bring our family companies together into the fourth generation and beyond, maintaining and enhancing the culture that’s made MTC and Harbor successful for a century. MTC celebrated 100 years in 2021, and Harbor will join them in 2023. We look forward to entering our next 100 years with an incredible team of industry professionals who share common values and a similar obsession with our customers’ success.”

Added Tom Eakin, CEO and third-generation owner of MTC: “With the industry constantly evolving, we are taking the opportunity to bring two like-minded independent companies together. I trust Harbor to carry on the MTC legacy and provide the solutions our retail and foodservice customers need today and into the future. Harbor’s extensive experience in foodservice, branded programs, fresh foods, and innovative marketing and technology will allow our incredible team to bring even greater value to our customers.”

The combined companies operate four distribution centers on the West Coast, servicing customers from the Canadian border to just north of Los Angeles. With more than $1 billion of collective purchasing power, Harbor and MTC are well equipped to offer competitive programs to customers while generating strong returns to reinvest in facilities, technology, and innovative solutions for customers.

MTC will remain independently operated in Modesto, with the current leadership team in place. Eakin is staying on in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition and continued commitment to team members and customers.

A subsidiary of Harbor Foods, Harbor employs more than 800 team members and serves 6,000-plus convenience stores, independent grocers and quick-serve restaurants with brands such as Harbor-owned Mountain Fresh, Via Vita Pizza, Split Shift, Watertown Craft Roasted, Mein Street and Skippers. It operates distribution centers in Lacey; Portland and Roseburg, Ore., and now Modesto.

In October, another Harbor subsidiary, Harbor Foodservice, acquired NW Foodservice Distribution Inc., a broadline foodservice distributor servicing southwest Washington and northwest Oregon.