GrubMarket Grows With Acquisition of Texas Importer and Distributor London Fruit
GrubMarket, a food tech, e-commerce, and farm-to-table food delivery services company based in San Francisco, California, acquired London Fruit, headquartered in Pharr, Texas, an importer and distributor of fresh produce sourced mainly from Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and other parts of Latin America, on August 3, 2023. GrubMarket made the acquisition to secure its sourcing capability for imported fresh produce in order to serve its customers better.
Transaction Summary
Our Take on the Acquisition
GrubMarket (acquirer) acquired London Fruit (target) to secure and integrate its supply of high-margin and high-demand items. London Fruit imports tropical fruits with a short shelf life, like avocados, mangos, lemons, limes, and pineapples. GrubMarket has made similar acquisitions in the past, including Custom Produce Sales in March 2023 and Fresh Software Solutions in November 2022. London Fruit will use GrubMarket’s software for its operations and to meet local consumer demands and requirements.
The Facts of the Acquisition
- Target: London Fruit is a family-owned importer and distributor of year-round and seasonal fresh fruits from Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Latin America. The company is located in Pharr, Texas, a city that is a critical bridge between the U.S. and Mexico. It has sold fresh fruit to food retailers, supermarkets, and wholesalers throughout Canada and the United States since 1981.
- Acquirer: GrubMarket is a San Francisco-headquartered food technology company founded in 2014 that operates in the food supply chain for both end consumers and business customers. It provides related software-as-a-service solutions (SAAS) to digitally support the global food supply chain. Currently, GrubMarket operates in all 50 U.S. States, Canada, Latin America, Egypt, India, Spain, and South Africa, with plans to expand to other parts of the world.
The Transaction
Date: | August 3, 2023 |
Price: | Undisclosed |
Purpose: | To enable GrubMarket to secure and integrate its supply of high-margin and high-demand items. |
Acquirer’s Statement: | Mike Xu, GrubMarket CEO – “This acquisition enables GrubMarket to further strengthen our presence in Texas, while fortifying our global sourcing capabilities in Mexico and South America. We are excited to welcome the London Fruit team to the GrubMarket family.” |
Target/Seller: London Fruit
Company Information
Target: | London Fruit |
Website: | londonfruit.com |
Founded: | 1981 |
Industry: | Fresh Produce Importer |
Type: | Private, Family Owned |
Employees: | 17 (Self-published on LinkedIn) |
Locations: | Head Office and Warehouse: 9010 South Cage Boulevard, Pharr, Texas, United States |
Product Information
Products: | Avocados Lemons Limes Mangos Pineapples Jackfruit Jicama |
Services: | Grading – Inspecting, assessing, and sorting products for quality, freshness, market value, and compliance with laws, rules, or standards. Custom Packing – Packing product to individual specifications. Private Labeling – Labeling products for sale under the brand names of other companies. |
Market Reach: | Canada United States |
Financial Information
Revenue: | USD $9.6 million (Unconfirmed source: ZoomInfo) |
Revenue per Employee: | USD $564,706 (i.e., USD $9.6 million / 17 employees = USD $564,706 – estimated based on the self-published number of employees and revenue from ZoomInfo) |
Did You Know?
American consumers’ fondness for avocados has taken off since 2000; however, avocado production in the U.S. has declined. Today, the United States consumes more avocados than any other country, with an average of 7.1 pounds per capita. Imported avocados now account for 90% of the domestic supply compared with 40% in the early 2000s. Mexico is the leading global supplier of avocados, producing over 2.4 million metric tons, followed by Peru, Indonesia, Spain, and South Africa.
Target/Seller Overview: London Fruit
London Fruit is an importer and supplier of avocados, mangos, limes, lemons, jicama, and other seasonal fruits from Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Latin America. Based in Pharr, Texas, the company operates out of a state-of-the-art, 45,000-square-foot distribution center and has a near-perfect 99% Good Manufacturing Practices rating from PrimusGFS. London Fruit uses the latest in technology to maintain the quality of their produce including cold rooms that use Airocide PPT technology. This air sanitation technology reduces 95% of airborne mold and over 99% of airborne bacteria, viruses, and volatile organic compounds like ethylene gas. London Fruit also offers Hazel 100 technology as a value-added service, which delays fruit respiration while extending product shelf life by several days.

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Explore Your Options NowBuyer/Acquirer: GrubMarket
Company Information
Buyer: | GrubMarket |
Website: | grubmarket.com |
Founded: | 2014 |
Industry: | Food Service – Distribution and IT-Enabled Services |
Type: | Private with eight rounds of venture capital funding |
Employees: | 133 (Self-published on LinkedIn) |
Locations: | Head Office: 1925 Jerrold Ave, San Francisco, United States |
Total Funding: | USD $499.1 million |
Investor: | Apeira Capital: A creative investment and advisory firm focused on disruptive distribution technology based in New York, United States. Christian Edler: An angel investor investing in early stage ventures. Disruptive Ventures: An investment company investing in private companies. The company is headquartered in New York. Grosvenor Food and AgTech: An international investor in food and agriculture businesses working out of London, United Kingdom. Liberty Street Funds: An investment management fund based in New York, United States Portfolia: An investment fund backing innovative companies for returns and impact in California, United States. Squarepoint Capital: A leading global investment management firm that develops quantitative investment strategies based in New York, United States. Tiger Global Management: An investment firm headquartered in New York, United States. Walleye Capital: An investment strategies, hedge funds, risk management, and wealth management advisory services provider in Minnesota, United States. |
Product Information
Products: | Farmigo – A cloud-based software and smartphone app that manages community-supported agriculture, where customers invest in a farm in exchange for a portion of the harvest, and sales and subscriptions for farmers and wholesalers. GrubPay – An app for taking customer payments. Orders IO – A tablet and smartphone e-commerce app that lets customers place orders. WholesaleWare – A cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that handles inventory, warehouse management, accounting, and HR management for food wholesalers, distributors, and shippers. |
Market Reach: | North America: United States, Canada, Mexico South America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia Africa: South Africa, Egypt South Asia: India Europe: Spain |
Financial Information
Revenue: | USD $32 million (Unconfirmed source: Zippia) |
Revenue per Employee: | USD $240,602 (i.e., USD $32 million / 133 employees = USD $240,602 – estimated based on the self-published number of employees and the revenue from Zippia) |
Buyer/Acquirer Overview: GrubMarket
GrubMarket is a food technology company founded in 2014 that operates in the food supply chain. For business customers, it offers various software-as-a-service solutions (SAAS), including the innovative, proprietary WholesaleWare software suite, which gives food industry wholesalers and distributors seamless financial management, sales and online ordering features, precise inventory management, lot traceability, grower accounting, logistics, and automated routing, as well as Orders IO, GrubMarket’s custom-branded, mobile eCommerce solution. End consumers in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas can shop for local produce, pantry staples, and groceries on the GrubMarket website or download the GrubMarket app to shop for farm-fresh food on the go and receive special promotions sent to app users only.

Previous Acquisitions by GrubMarket
- Custom Produce Sales (2023) – A wholesale distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables based in California, United States.
- Fresh Software Solutions (2022) – A software solutions provider for distributors and food suppliers headquartered in Illinois, United States.
- Rainfield Marketing Group (2022) – A grower and shipper of vegetables based in British Columbia, Canada.
- Granite State Software (2022) – A developer of software programs for produce wholesalers working out of Kansas, United States.
- Frantoni (2022) – A software products provider based in New York.
- IOT Pay (2022) – A payment solution provider for in-store and online payment in British Columbia, Canada.
- Quality Fruit & Vegetable Company (2022) – A distributor of fresh produce based in West Texas, United States.
- QBIX Analytics (2022) – An IT firm that helps companies use their data better with headquarters in California, United States.
- Vega Produce (2022) – A company specializing in importing, packing, and distributing specialty produce based in New York, United States.
Sources
- Company Profile
- Other Sources
- Unconfirmed Sources
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