Fresh Start Produce Sales

What Fresh Start Produce Sales does

Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. is a private, family-owned produce shipping and sales company founded in 1996 by Theo Rumble and Pete Austin in Boca Raton, Florida. The company began as a grower's sales agent and has developed into a grower-based shipping and sales business that acts as the exclusive sales agent for top regional growers across the southeastern United States. It serves retail, food service, and wholesale customers across the continental US and Canada, supplying fresh produce direct from farmer to consumer.

The company's product portfolio spans bell peppers, cabbage, squash (yellow, green, and specialty winter varieties), cucumbers, sweet corn, variety peppers (Poblano, Hungarian Wax, Long Hot, Cubanelles, Jalapenos, Habanero), pickles, green beans, grape tomatoes, radishes, and eggplant, with seasonal availability coordinated across multi-state growing regions in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and New York to enable year-round supply. The company operates a planting-to-shipping food safety program with all growers holding high-level third-party audit certifications and adhering to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP), coordinated by a dedicated Food Safety Coordinator.

The business model is a sales-led, direct-to-buyer produce distribution operation with no proprietary technology platform, no publicly disclosed pricing, and no online ordering beyond a cart placeholder. A sales team distributed across Delray Beach FL, Raleigh NC, and Orlando FL manages direct relationships with retail, food service, and wholesale buyers, while the company actively recruits new grower vendors through a public partner inquiry form. The company has 11-50 employees, no institutional investment or funding rounds, and remains under family ownership 29 years after founding.

Name

Fresh Start Produce Sales

Legal name

Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc.

Website

https://freshstartproducesales.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. is a family-owned produce shipping and sales company founded in 1996, acting as exclusive sales agent for southeastern US growers. It distributes bell peppers, cabbage, squash, cucumbers, sweet corn, and other fresh produce to retail, food service, and wholesale customers across the continental US and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fresh Produce Distribution

NAICS

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Wholesalers (424480)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Fresh Produce Distribution (CRAOABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fresh Produce Wholesale (Fruit & Vegetables) (AFAIABAE), Fresh Vegetable Wholesale (AFAIACAB)

Keywords

• Fresh produce distribution
• Produce shipping services
• Grower sales agency
• Wholesale produce supply
• Retail produce supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Delray Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Produce Sales: Fresh Start Produce Sales generates revenue by selling and shipping produce (bell peppers, cabbage, squash, cucumbers, sweet corn, variety peppers, and additional offerings) directly to retail, food service, and wholesale customers. The company began as a grower's sales agent and has developed into a grower-based shipping and sales company, acting as exclusive sales agents for top regional growers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. is a grower-based produce shipping and sales company that acts as the exclusive sales agent for top regional growers in the southeastern United States. The company sources, sells, and ships fresh produce—including bell peppers, cabbage, squash, cucumbers, sweet corn, variety peppers, pickles, green beans, grape tomatoes, radishes, and eggplant—directly to retail, food service, and wholesale customers across the continental United States and Canada. It was founded in 1996 by Theo Rumble and Pete Austin in Boca Raton, Florida, and operates as a family-owned business with multi-state growing partnerships spanning Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and New York.

Product overview

Fresh Start Produce Sales is a traditional produce distribution company that operates as a single unified offering—fresh produce shipping and sales—rather than a platform with modular software products. The company's portfolio consists of agricultural produce items sourced from partner growers throughout the southeastern United States, including Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Squash (Yellow & Green), Sweet Corn, Cabbage, and Variety Peppers (Poblano, Hungarian Wax, Long Hot, Cubanelles, Jalapenos, Habanero). Additional products include Pickles, Green Beans, Grape Tomatoes, Radishes, and Eggplant, as well as specialty squash varieties. The company serves retail, food service, and wholesale customers nationwide and in Canada, functioning as a grower-based shipping and sales company that connects farmers directly to consumers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bell Peppers

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Local Farming VendorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFresh Start Produce Sales relies on a network of local farming vendors that play a vital role in the company's fulfillment process. The company actively seeks new vendor relationships to expand its produce offerings and provide a versatile shopping experience for customers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Dole Food Company: Dole is a global fresh produce incumbent with broad fruit and vegetable offerings, broad retail distribution, and integrated grower operations. It competes with Fresh Start in retail produce distribution but at vastly larger scale with diversified categories.

Direct peers

• Robinson Fresh (C.H. Robinson): Robinson Fresh, the fresh produce division of C.H. Robinson, sources and distributes fresh produce through grower relationships to retail and foodservice customers across North America. It directly competes with Fresh Start on grower-sourced supply and multi-channel distribution.
• FreshPoint: FreshPoint is Sysco's specialty fresh produce distribution arm and the largest U.S. fresh produce distributor serving retail, foodservice and wholesale customers nationwide. It is the most direct national-scale competitor to Fresh Start Produce Sales' grower-agent distribution model.
• Lipman Family Farms: Lipman Family Farms is one of the largest open-field and greenhouse vegetable growers and shippers in North America, distributing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other vegetables to retail and foodservice. It overlaps directly with Fresh Start on cucumber, pepper and tomato categories.
• Tanimura & Antle: Tanimura & Antle is a grower-shipper of fresh vegetables (lettuce, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, sweet corn, peppers) selling to retail and foodservice customers. It is a direct peer of comparable scale to Fresh Start with overlapping vegetable product mix.
• L&M Companies: L&M Companies is a grower-shipper of fresh vegetables including cabbage, cucumbers, peppers, squash and onions, selling to retail and foodservice across North America. It is a direct peer to Fresh Start on vegetable product mix and grower-distributor model.
• Prime Time International: Prime Time International is a grower-shipper specializing in colored bell peppers, mini peppers and other vegetables with year-round supply spanning multiple regions. It directly overlaps with Fresh Start on bell peppers and variety peppers.
• Pacific International Produce: Pacific International Produce is a fresh produce distributor serving retail, foodservice and wholesale customers with a multi-SKU mix including peppers, cucumbers, squash and cabbage. It is a direct peer in scale and category mix.
• Wilcox Fresh Produce: Wilcox Fresh Produce is a grower-based produce shipping and sales company representing regional growers to retail and foodservice customers — directly analogous to Fresh Start's grower-agent operating model, though based in the Pacific Northwest.

Regional players

• Star Produce US: Star Produce US is a fresh produce distributor operating primarily in western and central U.S. regions, sourcing from growers to serve retail and foodservice — comparable in product mix and grower-agent model to Fresh Start, though more regional in geographic focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/freshstartproducesales
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fresh-start-produce-sales-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fresh Start Produce Sales