Carson, California, U.S.A., Southwind Foods has acquired Certi Fresh Foods and Terra-Sea Foods.
Southwind is a distributor of fresh and frozen seafood to foodservice and retail customers in the United States, under the Great American Seafood brand name.
Certi Fresh Foods is based in Wilmington, California, and is a vendor of fresh and breaded seafood products, with a specialization in shrimp. Terra-Sea Trading, also based in Wilmington, California, is a food wholesaler with a focus on seafood. Both companies focus on selling to restaurants, and have office locations in Seattle, Washington, and Nashville, Tennessee.
The deal closed 31 March, according to Southwind Foods President Sam Galletti. Following the transaction, Certi Fresh Foods and Terra-Sea Trading will operate as divisions of Southwind Foods.
“We are very excited about this opportunity. We know and respect the management team at Certi-Fresh and Terra-Sea very much. They have done a great job of serving the markets they focus on,” Galletti said. “Our companies share a passion for what we do and a commitment to always strive to provide the highest levels of quality product and customer service in our industry. We will provide resources and support to Certi-Fresh and Terra-Sea to support future sales growth for both divisions. The operations will continue to operate in the same successful manner it has been operating at for a long time.”
Galletti confirmed the executive management teams of Certi Fresh and Terra-Sea, including Peter Palma, Michael DiLeva, Mario Galaz, and Eric Otaguro, will be kept on.
“The team knows this market extremely well and is very highly regarded in our industry,” Galletti said.
Galletti said Southwind was attracted to the deal because of the reputation of both companies as “recognized leader[s] in the seafood industry, thanks to [their] high-quality standards, custom-made products, exceptional customer service, and superior processing flexibility.”
Certi-Fresh President Peter Palma, who has worked at the company for more than 20 years, said his company has recently focused on building its brand on the back of value-added shrimp products.
“Our management team has worked hard to build Certi-Fresh and Terra-Sea into some of the highest quality brands available in value added shrimp. We are eager to bring them to the next level of recognition in the marketplace and Southwind is the perfect match for us, from infrastructure to attitude,” he said.
Palma praised the working relationship that has developed between Southwind and Certi-Fresh.
They are simply a great team, great people and have built an incredibly strong platform of resources and capabilities. We look forward to the integration process and opportunity to bring a new array of products to our existing and new customers,” Palma said.
Photo courtesy of Southwind Foods
