Innovative Food Holdings Buys Organic Food Brokers

Innovative Food Holdings Inc., a leading nationwide provider of specialty foods, gourmet specialty meals, gluten-free foods and direct-from-source artisanal foods, has launched a retail channel offering for new and emerging food brands via the acquisition of Organic Food Brokers LLC, a Boulder, Colo.-based company. 

Organic Food Brokers works closely with emerging food brands to develop and execute sales, marketing and distribution plans via its nationwide network of retail-related food broker relationships while providing emerging food brands distribution and shelf placement access in all of the major metro markets in the food retail industry. 

Organic Food Brokers (OFB) has been instrumental in the launch and nationwide growth of many highly recognizable specialty food brands over the past several years. As a result, the company has established a nationwide network of retail decision-makers and buyers representing key retail shelf space for thousands of supermarkets and other food retailers across the United States. 

Innovative Food Holdings plans to leverage synergies related to its specialty and artisanal food capabilities to further accelerate the growth and conversion rate of OFB’s pipeline. Expected synergies include the ability to offer nationwide foodservice distribution opportunities for new and select existing and potential OFB clients with retail products, which can potentially cross over and succeed in the foodservice space. In addition, foodservice-oriented offerings within the company’s core foodservice markets will have the potential to successfully and efficiently cross over to retail shelves.

The acquisition purchase price included cash consideration of $100,000; a performance-based earn out of up to $225,000; seller financing in the form of a $200,000 note convertible at $1.54 per share and options to purchase 100,000 shares of Innovative Food Holdings at $1.46 per share. OFB generates revenue through monthly recurring revenues as well as through earning a percentage of future sales of client company products. Organic Food Brokers generated approximately $550,000 of unaudited revenues in 2013 and is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings. OFB will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Innovative Food Holdings.

Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, said, “Innovative Food Holdings continues to pursue opportunities to leverage our unique position in the specialty food space to grow synergistic opportunities and to enter into new complementary specialty food markets, utilizing a low capex model. 

“We are excited about the opening of this new and potentially promising market area for Innovative Food Holdings, and we look forward to being able to take advantage of the numerous growth opportunities and synergies available in the retail space.”

Justin Wiernasz, president of Innovative Food Holdings, noted, “We have been seeing continued convergence between retail and foodservice products in the rapidly changing specialty food distribution market. We are particularly enthusiastic about this acquisition as we believe it uniquely positions Innovative Food Holdings to offer unique, highly synergistic capabilities and relationships in both the rapidly growing specialty foodservice and specialty food retail area.”