Delta-based Unione Food Group today announced it has closed a $10-million financing round, with the food-distribution company planning to spend its new capital on acquisitions and expansion to the U.S.
The fast-growing seven-year-old venture generates approximately $100 million in annual sales, with that being twice as much as last year, CEO Neil Gu told BIV this afternoon.
His company's new financing comes from Red River Investments, Celtic House Asia Partners and Celtic House Venture Partners.
This was the company's third financing round, Gu said. Unione's first round was in mid-2020, when Fantuan Holding Ltd. provided a seven-figure investment, he said. Then came a financing round in April 2023, when Banyan Pacific Capital, Celtic House Asia Partners and Celtic House Venture Partners provided "millions" of dollars in capital, he added.
The company competes with industry giants Sysco Canada and Gordon Food Service by focusing on the niche of Asian food products. Its sales are now about 40 per cent to grocers and 60 per cent to restaurants, although Gu said that he anticipates the restaurant side of his business to increase as a proportion of overall sales. About 90 per cent of his restaurant clients specialize in Asian cuisines.
"For Asian types of cuisine, there's a great deal of cultural background to it," he said. "The chilli that you eat in a Thai restaurant is different from the chilli that you eat in an Indian restaurant or in a Chinese restaurant."
In contrast, he said that his larger food-distribution competitors are more "cookie-cutter" businesses and do not carry the range of products that Unione does.
Business is now in the six westernmost provinces but he is eyeing opening a warehouse in Seattle, Washington.
Acquisitions are also on his mind. He said he has potential acquisition targets in Calgary and in Montreal.
The Annacis Island-based company at this point has 160 employees and 22 trucks. It has five warehouses in Metro Vancouver, with some having niches, such as meat processing. It also has warehouses in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal.
Unione is also able to compete with industry giants by having its own proprietary technology platform that hosts a range of software applications that link well together, Gu said. That leads to efficiency between areas of the business such as procurement, importation, warehouse management, logistic distribution and sales, he said.