Volleying off its recent acquisition of Hawaiian foodservice operator, Edsung Foodservice Company, C&S Wholesale Grocers has announced an agreement to acquire Newington, CT-based Davidson Specialty Foods.
“As proven by the success and longevity of Davidson’s premium service model, the Rowe family and the Davidson team are certainly premier operators in the specialty food business,” explained Rick Cohen, C&S Chairman and CEO, in a statement. “This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to invest in new products and services that are increasingly relevant to our customers, delivering on our promise to create Braggingly Happy Customers.”
Davidson Specialty Foods provides direct store delivery (DSD) services for over 6,000 specialty, kosher, and ethnic products to independent and chain retailers across New England and the New York metropolitan area. Current owner operators, Bob Rowe and Jim Rowe, will continue to manage the day-to-day operations under the new agreement, in what the company says will ensure consistency for vendors, customers, and employees.
“I can think of no finer partners than Rick Cohen and the C&S team,” said Bob Rowe, President of The Davidson Company.
Jim Rowe, Davidson’s Sr. Vice President, added, “Becoming part of the C&S family, the nation’s leading grocery supplier and a company that shares our dedication to customer service, is very exciting and opens the door for significant growth opportunities.”
While Davidson will continue to operate as a separate organization, this newly minted partnership will be a way for C&S’s to provide more quality product to its existing customers. C&S says the combination of the two family-run organizations will enable Davidson to expand its scale to new products, customers, and markets.
The sale is expected to close in June of 2016.
