GrubMarket says it has purchased Vernon, Calif.-based Best Oriental Produce, a 700-hectare farming operation across California and Mexico to help grow its presence in Southern California.
Best Oriental Produce is the largest Asian squash grower in the U.S. and is also the largest importer of young coconut from Thailand, according to a news release. GrubMarket said Best Oriental Produce also grows and ships more than 46,000 cases of Chinese eggplant each month, up to 10 truckloads a day from Mexico.
Ben Charoensuk founded Best Oriental Produce 35 years ago. GrubMarket said the current leadership team will continue to manage the business.
“I have been passionate about growing and providing delicious Asian fruits and vegetables to a wide consumer base ever since I moved to the U.S. from Thailand nearly 40 years ago,” said Charoensuk, owner of Best Oriental Produce. “When I started this business, I never expected it to grow as big as it has become. Today, we are the largest Chinese eggplant grower in the world and likely the largest Asian produce provider nationwide.”
Charoensuk said the sale to GrubMarket will help his business utilize GrubMarket’s technology and scale to help grow the business.
The operation now grows a wide variety of Asian produce, such as bitter melon, Chinese eggplant, long-bean and Asian squash, across broad open field farms and greenhouse facilities. It also operates a PrimusGFS-certified 25,000-square-foot warehouse.
Best Oriental Produce serves many retail chains across California, New York, Chicago, Florida and other regions in the U.S. and Canada, the release said.
“Best Oriental Produce is one of the strongest businesses we have acquired, and Ben is one of the most impressive leaders we have welcomed to our company. Remarkably, Ben has been able to steer Best Oriental Produce to a spotless profitability record; in 35 years of existence, the business never lost money and was highly profitable the entire time,” Mike Xu, CEO of GrubMarket, said in the release. “On top of that, Best Oriental Produce has dominant supply positions across many in-demand items like Asian squash, Chinese eggplant, and Thai coconuts, and most of its top customers have been doing business with the company for over 15 years.”
