About Acosta. Set sail for success.

History

Date Description
1927 L.T. Acosta opens a family-run, single-market food broker, servicing the Jacksonville, FL, area. The company is known as L.T. Acosta Company, Inc.
1974 Del Dallas becomes president of the company and an expansion plan is initiated. Acosta Sales Co. begins its first stage of expansion by opening an office in Tampa, FL. In the process, Acosta becomes one of the first companies to offer manufacturer representation in more than one geographic area.
1981 Acosta opens its Miami, FL, office, offering Florida statewide service.
1983 Acosta acquires Raley Brothers, its first acquisition outside the state of Florida.
1989 Acosta enters the Carolinas market.
1990s Acosta continues extending its reach through acquisitions in Tennessee, Virginia and Louisiana; the 1990s brought mass consolidation of food retailers and manufacturers and centralization of procurement centers.
1993 Gary Chartrand becomes president of Acosta.
1996 Gary Chartrand is named Acosta's CEO.
1998 (July) Acosta merges with PMI-Eisenhart, a leading agency in the Midwest.
1999 (June) Acosta acquires Kelley-Clarke, a leading agency in the West.
1999 (August) Acosta acquires MAI, a leading agency in the Northeast.
1999 (September) Acosta completes its national expansion by signing an operating agreement with Luke Soules, a leading agency in the Southwest.
1999 (September) Acosta receives an appointment from Minute Maid for national representation, its first such contract.
2001 (February) Acosta acquires Natural/Specialty Sales, Inc. (NSSI), a leading agency for natural, organic, gourmet and ethnic foods in the West.
2001 (October) Acosta acquires Retail Marketing & Sales Inc. expanding its coverage in the Midwest.
2001 (December) Acosta expands NSSI coverage in the West with the acquisition of Pasarow Foods, Inc.
2002 (January) Acosta continues to grow in the Northeast with the acquisition of DuBois Foods Limited.
2002 (June) Acquisitions of top agencies in Canada make Acosta the leading sales agency in North America.
2003 (January) Acosta's NSSI coverage continues to grow with the acquisition of Food Brokers, Inc.
2003 (July) Acosta acquires Luke Soules.
2003 (July) Acosta further strengthens its Fresh Foods presence with the acquisition of The Vaughn Group, Inc., a leading fresh foods agency in Texas.
2003 (October) Acosta acquires Priority Food Brokers, Inc., a leading fresh foods sales and marketing agency in the Baltimore/Washington DC area.
2004 (February) Acosta expands NSSI coverage in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast with the acquisition of Specialty Partners, Inc.
2004 (June) Acosta acquires Infinity Food Marketing and Carman & Associates to expand its Fresh Foods presence in Northern California.
2004 (August) Acosta continues its Fresh Foods expansion in the Midwest with the acquisition of Reliance Food Brokers.
2004 (October) Acosta further expands its reach in the Fresh Foods area with the acquisition of Premier Food Marketing servicing the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
2006 (March) Acosta strengthens its presence in the Pacific Northwest with the acquisition of Team Northwest, Inc.
2006 (August) Acosta continues to leverage its strength to better service CPG manufacturers by entering the DSD channel with the acquisition of Synergy Systems' Retail Logistics (RLS) to provide DSD merchandising services.
2006 (December) Acosta acquires Premier, a confection sales and marketing agency located in Florida.
2007 (February) Acosta's Fresh Foods platform continues to grow with the acquisition of Meyer and Associates, a leading deli sales and marketing agency serving the New England market.