GR produce wholesalers merge 157 years of experience, 175 employees

After nearly a century of operating as two family-owned businesses, local produce wholesalers combine forces to create a business with greater buying power and an aim to provide more amenities to customers, including gourmet specialties, organic produce, and floral services.

By Newsroom

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General

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October 10, 2006

According to excerpts from the story:

Heeren Brothers Produce and J.A. Besteman decided they were tired of “beating each other up.”

Instead, the two family-owned wholesale produce distributors have joined forces to strengthen their position in an increasingly competitive industry, spokesmen for the business said.

“Instead of letting larger competitors come from the outside and make inroads into the Michigan market, we started chatting around the first of the year about building on each other’s bases.”

“With a larger (operation), we’ll have some size-buying power and extend that to our customers,” Roy said.

Read the complete story here.