Produce acquisitions fall in 2026, but deals carry bigger names

Blue Book Services recorded 18 produce mergers, acquisitions, and business sales in 2026 from January through September, its lowest total for those months in four years.

Mission Produce’s purchase of Calavo Growers led the list.

Fewer produce companies changed hands in the first nine months of 2026 than in any of the past four years, according to ownership changes published on Blue Book credit sheets. Listed companies posted 18 deals with effective dates from January through September, down from 26 in the same months of 2025, 27 in 2024 and 37 in 2023.

The list got shorter, but it didn’t get smaller in scale. Mission Produce closed its purchase of Calavo Growers in May, and four retail and foodservice buyers, among them Sysco and Kroger, signed agreements that have yet to close.

The third quarter shows the sharpest gap. Blue Book has published 4 deals with July through September effective dates this year, compared with 14 in the third quarter of 2023 and 8 last year.

That number will likely climb. Ownership changes often reach the credit sheet weeks or months after they take effect, so the latest quarter tends to look thinnest when it’s first counted. Some 2023 and 2025 changes posted only this year.

The biggest deal of the year

Calavo Growers sold its capital stock to Mission Produce of Oxnard, CA, effective May 28, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mission. The two companies first published a definitive agreement on January 14.

Other completed 2026 deals ran smaller. JAB Produce acquired all assets of D & K Chicago in May, Sunrise Produce bought certain assets of Family Tree Produce of Anaheim in June, and Grimmway Farms picked up assets of Fresha of Morris, MN, in March. In Quebec, Les Serres Savoura acquired the majority of the assets of Les Productions Horticoles Demers.

Agreements waiting to close

Four signed agreements sit on the buying side of the trade:

Sysco Corporation agreed in March to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot of Whitestone, NY. Empire Company Limited agreed in April to acquire Mayrand Food Group of Montreal. The GIANT Company reached an agreement in February to acquire Everett Foodliner and Saxton Market in Pennsylvania, and Kroger signed a definitive agreement in July to acquire Giant Eagle of Pittsburgh.

Each of those will post again on Blue Book when the deal closes.

A slower pace for roll-ups

GrubMarket, one of the most active buyers in produce distribution over the past few years, has slowed down. The company posted 7 acquisitions from January through September 2024, including Good Eggs, Best Oriental Produce, Performance Produce and J.C. Cheyne.

It has posted 2 in each of the past two years. In 2025 those were Bay Cities Produce and Coast Citrus Distributors; this year GrubMarket added Schoenmann Produce of Houston in April and JR Holland of Tyne & Wear, England, in August.

Fewer capital-firm buyers

Last year five produce and grocery sales went to buyers whose names identify them as capital, equity or investment groups. Bova Fresh sold to Creo Capital Partners, Freshway Foods to Red Arts Capital, and Freshline Foods, Bamford Produce and Fresh Advancements to Ironbridge Equity Partners. Family Dollar went to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management, and Winn-Dixie’s operations went to a consortium of private investors.

No buyer of that kind appears among the 2026 deals so far. Agrifruits Holdings and Divine Flavor both changed hands to holding entities, and their published notes don’t go beyond the entity names.

Buyers coming back for more

A handful of companies keep returning to the market. South Mill Mushroom bought G & K Distributing in 2023, Baird Produce in 2024 and Farmer Jack Produce of Winter Haven, FL, this February.

Courchesne Larose of Montreal acquired Veg-Pak Produce in 2024 and in July bought the operations of both Star Produce companies, in Saskatoon and Naples, FL. TruSource Foods of Charlotte took Forestwood Farm in 2025 and Regional Produce Distributors in June. What Chefs Want added Farm Fresh Produce of St. Petersburg, FL, in January.

2026 deals at a glance

About these numbers

Counts cover ownership changes published on listed produce companies’ Blue Book credit sheets with effective dates from January 1 through September 30 of each year.

Each deal counts once, even when it posted on both the buyer’s and the seller’s listing. Bankruptcies, partners buying out partners, ownership passed between family members, and companies re-forming under a new entity with the same name aren’t included.

If you buy from or sell to any company above, pull up its Blue Book listing and check that your contacts and credit terms still match the business that owns it today.