GrubMarket expands further into South Africa through the acquisition of Global Produce

Date:04-30-2024

GrubMarket announced that it has completed the acquisition of Cape Town, South Africa-based Global Produce, a fresh produce business that sources and distributes a wide range of fresh South African fruits to supermarkets, restaurants, retailers, wholesalers, and online business customers across 44 countries worldwide. Known primarily for its year-round supply of grapes and citrus fruits, Global Produce also sells dozens of other products including apples, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, plums, butternut squash, pears, mangos, and bananas. It also carries exotic items like Malaysian dragon fruit, Namibian Barhi dates, and Belgian PiqaBoo pears.

Global Produce was founded in 2013 by fresh fruit industry veteran and international business expert Rutger Van Wulfen, who continues to run the business today. Presently, Global Produce has impressive international operations, with offices in Cape Town, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh City, and a supplier base spanning South Africa, Namibia, Morocco, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, and other regions of the world. Global Produce also supports local farmers across Africa through a vertical integration initiative that connects them directly to end markets by packing goods under its GEO brand. This reduces the number of actors in the supply chain and alleviates the growing pressures that farmers face from rising input costs and high costs to market. After the acquisition, the business will continue to be managed by its current experienced, mission-driven, and geographically diverse leadership team.

"Food is a relationship business - our foundation is built on trust, loyalty, and service. We truly pride ourselves on providing the highest quality South African fruits to our valued customers all over the world, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Maldives, Philippines, India, East & West Malaysia, Singapore, as well as the Middle East. Our vertically integrated approach to food distribution, which includes putting boots on the ground in key local markets as well as staying in close proximity to the origins of our supply, allows us to maximize profits for our farmers while delivering lower prices and higher volumes of fresh fruit to our end customers. Our growing GEO brand also allows us to work directly with local farmers under the Global Farmers Brand to bring farm-fresh produce as close to our end customers as possible. I've been following GrubMarket's story for many years and am incredibly excited to join this successful, globally-oriented company that approaches the food supply chain with a similar philosophy and work ethic. We are proud to represent GrubMarket in South Africa, and we look forward to expanding GrubMarket's global reach and bringing more South African fruits to GrubMarket's end customers," said Rutger Van Wulfen, owner of Global Produce.

Mike Xu, CEO of GrubMarket, adds: "The acquisition of Global Produce marks a pivotal moment in GrubMarket's journey, as we continue expanding our physical presence internationally and ramping up our operations in South Africa. I have been impressed with Rutger's wealth of international experience living in cities like Holland, Cape Town, Rotterdam, Jakarta, and even Hong Kong; his multicultural background has no doubt played a central role in Global Produce's ability to reach customers in over 40 countries, including those in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. We are looking forward to working with the Global Produce team to strengthen our global position in the food supply chain and work more closely with farmers and growers throughout South Africa. We are thrilled to welcome the Global Produce team to the GrubMarket family."

As a part of GrubMarket's portfolio, Global Produce will utilize GrubMarket's innovative, AI-powered WholesaleWare software suite, the company's software-as-a-service platform that provides food industry wholesalers and distributors with seamless financial management, powerful sales support, online ordering, precise inventory management, lot traceability, grower accounting, and automated routing and logistics; GrubAssist, GrubMarket's groundbreaking enterprise AI assistant that empowers food supply chain businesses with deep insights & intelligent analysis; and Orders IO, GrubMarket's custom branded, mobile eCommerce solution.