Food distributor acquiring division

Food distributor acquiring division

Gordon Food Service's headquarters is a $40-million, 386,000-square-foot facility on Gezon Parkway SW in Wyoming. Courtesy Dan Vos Construction

A local food distributor is acquiring the food service division of a coffee and tea maker.

Wyoming-based Gordon Food Service, or GFS, said last week it entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Red Diamond Foodservice, a division of Birmingham, Alabama-based Red Diamond.

The transaction is expected to close within the next 90 days, after which Red Diamond’s broadline food service customers will be serviced by GFS’s Douglasville, Georgia distribution center.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"These are exciting times for us as we expand our business in the southeast region,” said Rich Wolowski, CEO, Gordon Food Service. “We expect a seamless transition as both family held companies have a similar approach to operations and serving our customers."

Red Diamond will continue to own Red Diamond Coffee & Tea.

Red Diamond President and CEO Bill Bowron said by selling off its distribution arm, the company can focus on expanding its coffee and tea business.

"For a number of years, as Red Diamond has grown its business, we have found our company increasingly competing in food service with the very distributors to whom we sell our coffee and tea products,” Bowron said.

He added that Gordon Food Service was strategically “the best possible fit” for the company’s food service customers and employees.

Red Diamond

Red Diamond produces and sells a broad spectrum of coffee and tea products.

It has seen five generations of family ownership through its 111-year history.

Red Diamond sells its products across North America and services a variety of markets, including retail, convenience, health care, education, institutional and wholesale.

Gordon Food Service

Gordon Food Service operates in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest regions of the U.S. and coast-to-coast in Canada.

In addition to its distribution business, GFS also operates more than 170 total GFS Store and Gordon Restaurant Market locations in the U.S.