Pepper, a technology platform built for food distribution companies, has acquired Kimelo, the creator of a vertical distribution toolset.
Pepper designs food distribution platforms around a company’s needs and has targeted the business-to-business side of purchasing and ordering products, including seafood. Pepper’s platform has been utilized by a number of seafood companies including Seattle Fish Company and Pacific Seafood.
Kimelo is an AI platform and a sales-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for distribution, with products like its restaurant supply app that gave restaurants an easy way to order daily supplies.
The exact terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“Together, the companies will deliver greater value to customers, expand opportunities for employees, and efficiently scale in the foodservice distribution industry,” Pepper said in a release. “This partnership ensures both organizations are well-positioned to become the trusted technology partner for foodservice distributors in the AI era.”
Pepper said that with the acquisition, Kimelo’s customers will join the network of distributors using Pepper’s existing platform. The two companies said the new relationship will allow each to expand the suite of tools on offer to food distributors in a range of industries – from broadline distribution to ice cream.
“I’m thrilled for Kimelo to join forces with Pepper. We share a goal to help distributors and the food industry grow profitably with the best of AI and e-commerce technology,” Kimelo CEO Kim Spalding said.
The ultimate goal of both Pepper and Kimelo is to create a “single, unified solution for managing customer relationships, optimizing sales processes, and driving sustainable growth,” the two companies said in a release.
“At Pepper, we are seeing firsthand how technology is fundamentally reshaping the foodservice distribution industry,” Pepper Co-Founder and CEO Bowie Cheung said. “I’m very excited to team up with Kimelo to shape the future of this industry and continue to be the trusted tech partner for the independent distributor.”
