C&S Wholesale Groceries LLC has finalized its previously announced $1.77 billion acquisition of SpartanNash, creating a grocery distribution powerhouse that operates 60 distribution centers across the country and about 200 grocery stores.
The combined company employs 60,000 people and distributes groceries to nearly 10,000 food stores and military commissaries as well as the company’s own supermarkets.
Even before this acquisition, C&S ranked No. 10 in 2024 in the annual Forbes analysis of privately held U.S. companies.
SpartanNash, which had been publicly traded before this deal, generates two-thirds of its revenue from its wholesale segment. That percentage declined this year following SpartanNash’s October 2024 acquisition of the Fresh Encounter grocery chain, which had been a wholesale client and now is included in its retail segment. Fresh Encounter operated 49 supermarkets in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky before that acquisition.
Earlier in 2024, SpartanNash had purchased Metcalfe Market, which operated three supermarkets in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, SpartanNash’s other grocery store banners include Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market.
C&S Wholesale Grocers subsidiaries include Grocers Supply, Hansen Distribution Group, FreshKo Produce Services, The Davidson Specialty Food Group. The company was founded in 1918 and is based in Keene, New Hampshire.
Consolidation in the grocery industry
Several factors are driving consolidation in the grocery sector, including margin pressure as cost-conscious consumers shop more carefully and the need to invest in ecommerce favors larger players. Online grocery sales in August hit a record $11.2 billion, according to research firm Brick Meets Click, representing 14.3% of the $78.2 billion in total grocery stores sales in August estimated by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Coresight Research projects that the five leading U.S. food retailers—Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize—will increase their market share from 44% today to at least 60% by 2050 via consolidation.
