Food purveyor sells consumer business

BONITA SPRINGS — Innovative Food Holdings, a distributor of specialty foods to chefs and upscale restaurants, says it has sold The Fresh Diet to a group led by the company's founder.

Innovative Food says it sold 90% of the stock of The Fresh Diet, which delivers prepared meals to consumers in 44 metropolitan areas, to New Fresh, an investor group led by Fresh Diet founder Zalmi Duchman. Innovative Food is retaining 10% of the shares in The Fresh Diet. Other financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“While we continue to believe that The Fresh Diet represents a unique platform within the fresh-food space, it became abundantly clear that, due to a variety of factors, including several key capital markets considerations, The Fresh Diet's optimal route to growth and success was through a new ownership structure,” says Sam Klepfish, CEO of Innovative Food Holdings, in a statement.

The sale will now let Innovative Food focus on serving chefs. Bonita Springs-based Innovative Food says it distributes more than 7,000 specialty foods daily to thousands of chefs nationwide.

“We now enter a new chapter for Innovative Food Holdings,” says Klepfish, in a statement. “We strongly believe in the strength of our core specialty food business which continues to set record sales and continues to drive bottom line growth.”