Merchants subsidiary buys distribution center in Florida

HATTIESBURG — Sunrise Fresh Produce LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merchants Foodservice, has completed its acquisition of certain assets from Produce Distribution Center, LLC located in Jacksonville, Fla.

Terms were not disclosed.

The transaction gives Sunrise Fresh Produce its second produce distribution center as Sunrise Fresh Produce of Jacksonville, Fla.

In association with the acquisition, Michael O’Brien, formerly of Adams Produce, has been named general manager of Sunrise Fresh Produce of Jacksonville.

With the acquisition, Sunrise Fresh Produce of Jacksonville will have a 47,000-square-foot facility. The warehouse is climate controlled with seven separate temperature zones to ensure the freshness of product for our customers.

Sunrise Fresh Produce serves approximately 500 customers throughout the Greater Jacksonville market with produce, eggs and dairy products.

Sunrise Fresh Produce is headquartered in Hattiesburg with a location in Jackson. The combined locations will have annual revenues of $30 million.

President and CEO Andy Mercier said, “We are very excited about the growth of Sunrise Fresh Produce.  Through greater access to capital and additional resources of our Merchants Foodservice parent company, we believe Sunrise Fresh Produce will realize significant growth through superior services and products.  The combined operations improves our purchasing power, which will be beneficial to our foodservice customers.”