Ferraro Foods, one of the country’s largest specialty distributors of food and foodservice supplies to pizzerias and Italian restaurants, has acquired New Jersey-based GDS Foods Inc., an importer and distributor of Italian food products to pizzerias throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“This is very much core to our strategy for us to be the largest pizza distributor in what we call the power states: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut,” noted Ferraro Foods CEO Dan Hill. “GDS Foods has been around since 1985 with street business that is nearly 100%. That makes them a perfect fit for our culture. They bring us a nearly $50 million book of business with virtually zero overlap.”
Ferraro’s partnership with the Sussex, N.J. based business, with nearly $50 million in annual sales revenue, expands Ferraro’s growing network of distribution hubs in a crucial market for pizzerias, adds hundreds of customers to its roster and helps broaden Ferraro’s industry leading offering of specialty imported Italian food products.
“We are excited to partner with GDS, a terrific family-run business with strong roots in the area going back 35 years. We love the business, we love the people, and they have a loyal customer base that aligns perfectly with Ferraro’s. Just as important, GDS is pizza to the core, so they are a perfect fit for the Ferraro culture,” Hill continued. “Our core tenet has been going non-stop in our commitment to our customer relationships. For us it is all about providing talented operators a portfolio of the highest quality Italian products. To us and GDS, it’s all about being in the field and working side by side with our pizzeria owners to develop their menus.”
The GDS management team is set to remain as part of the new venture. Founder Sal Riggio and his daughter Victoria we be actively involved in bringing both teams together. “Her graduate studies in behavioral psychology will be of great benefit to our team. We understand that not only is our success moving forward built on our food and customer, but it is also about talent,” Hill continued.
The GDS partnership is the latest in a robust acquisition pipeline under development by Ferraro, aimed at increasing its market share in critical Northeast pizza markets – home of the country’s largest concentration of independent pizzerias. The news comes on the heels of Ferraro’s announcement last month of its addition of a 230,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in Long Island.
Hill sees the GDS acquisition as the next step in his vision for the expansion of the company. “We will continue to pursue opportunities in the power States,” he said. We also understand that we need to move at a pace that we can handle without any sacrifice to our level of customer service. There will be no shortage of opportunities for us as we have seemingly been identified as an acquirer of choice. By now operating as a single entity, the opportunity to share inventory will give us and our street customers a tremendous advantage.”
Headquartered in New Jersey since their founding as a family business nearly 50 years ago, Ferraro Foods is America’s leading distributor of specialty Italian foods and foodservice supplies to pizzerias and Italian restaurants. With a concentration in the critical pizza markets of the Northeast and customers spanning 26 states serviced by distribution divisions in Upstate New York, Long Island, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida and Indiana, Ferraro Foods now boasts annual sales revenue of nearly $1.3 billion, with the new acquisition bringing additional buying power.
Ferraro Foods is working every day to earn and build trusted relationships by delivering an unrivaled menu of authentic, top-quality offerings, unmatched specialized category expertise and consistently exceptional value and service. “Ferraro Foods is pizza, that is the message that is reverberating throughout the industry as we continue to increase our customer base as the premier provider in the specialty Italian foods space,” Hill concluded.
Operators who would like more info on to Ferraro Foods and what their portfolio of menu solutions has to offer, can contact them on their website, or email Dan Hill directly.
