South Florida Food & Supplies Distributor, 26-Year Miami Operator

$3.3M

Revenue

$650K

SDE

2.8x

Multiple

Subscribe Free

Read the full deal writeup

Get Free Access

Already a member? Sign in

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 26-year-old food and supplies distributor serving the South Florida foodservice and retail trade out of Miami-Dade County. The company moves essential consumables, meats, cold cuts, dairy, grains, and disposable supplies to roughly 60 established accounts including cafeterias, restaurants, bakeries, gas stations, minimarkets, and convenience stores across Florida's East and West coasts. It runs a lean operation: two small warehouses totaling about 2,000 square feet with freezer and cooler capacity, five full-time drivers, and a five-vehicle refrigerated fleet.

The headline fact here is that the business generated over $3.3 million in 2025 revenue with no sales force, no website, no social media, no catalog, and no advertising. Growth has been entirely relationship-driven off a stable supplier base of 12 to 14 local vendors offering preferential pricing. On $3.3M of revenue, seller-reported SDE is $649,557, roughly a 20 percent SDE margin, which is strong for food distribution and almost certainly reflects the owners wearing multiple hats.

The asking price of $1,786,000 implies about 2.75x seller-reported SDE, with $644,380 in add-backs that need scrutiny. Seller financing is available for up to 25 percent of the price, and the owners are retiring with a 90-day handover. This is a boring, essential, cash-generative route business with an obvious lever: the first dollar of organized sales and marketing effort could meaningfully expand the account base in a dense Miami market.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is solid for the sector: $649,557 of SDE on $3.3M of revenue is roughly a 20 percent margin, well above typical food distribution. The business has 26 years of operating history and more than 60 established accounts, which signals durable, repeat demand rather than one-off sales.
The moat is sticky supplier economics and route density. Established purchasing relationships with 12 to 14 local suppliers offering preferential pricing are hard to replicate, and refrigerated delivery to recurring foodservice accounts creates switching friction that protects margin.
The product is genuinely recession-resistant. Restaurants, gas stations, minimarkets, and convenience stores keep buying meats, dairy, grains, and disposables through downturns, so volume is far more stable than discretionary consumer categories.
The operator advantage is unusually clear: $3.3M achieved with zero sales force, no website, no catalog, and no advertising. A disciplined buyer who installs even basic commercial infrastructure has a credible path to add accounts in one of the densest foodservice markets in the country.
Deal structure is friendly. The seller will finance up to 25 percent of the price and provide a 90-day transition, which lowers the equity check and de-risks the handover of supplier and customer relationships.

How to improve it

Hire or outplace a dedicated sales rep in the first 90 days with a commission structure tied to new accounts. With 60 customers acquired passively over 26 years, a focused rep working the Miami-Dade restaurant and convenience corridor could add accounts quickly against near-zero current sales effort.
Stand up basic digital infrastructure: a simple website, online ordering, and a product catalog. Even a modest ordering portal reduces phone-based friction, raises average order size through cross-selling, and makes the business look credible to larger accounts.
Analyze margin by product category and by customer to prune unprofitable deliveries. In a route-based distribution business, drop-size and delivery frequency drive unit economics, so tightening routes and minimum-order thresholds can lift SDE without adding revenue.
Negotiate expanded preferential pricing or rebates with the 12 to 14 core suppliers using combined volume growth as leverage. Every point of improved landed cost flows straight to the bottom line in a thin-margin distribution model.
Expand the fleet utilization and route coverage toward Florida's West Coast where the business already has some presence. Additional routes amortize fixed overhead across more drops and open new account geography without a new warehouse.
Implement inventory and purchasing software to reduce spoilage on refrigerated and perishable product. With only $30,000 of inventory on $3.3M of revenue, the business already turns fast, but disciplined systems protect against waste as volume scales.
Introduce cross-selling of higher-margin disposables and consumables to existing food accounts. Non-food SKUs typically carry better margins and increase per-account revenue with minimal incremental delivery cost.

Diligence notes

Substantiate the $644,380 in seller-provided add-backs, which represent nearly all of the $649,557 SDE. Confirm which are truly discretionary versus genuine operating costs a new owner must bear, because the real multiple shifts dramatically if normalized earnings are materially lower.
Analyze customer concentration across the 60-plus accounts. With a small base, losing even a handful of top customers could gut cash flow, so pull revenue by account and assess tenure, contract terms, and personal reliance on the retiring owners.
Verify supplier relationships and whether preferential pricing transfers to a new owner. If the 12 to 14 supplier arrangements are personal to the sellers or informal, the cost advantage that underpins margin may not survive the sale.
Confirm the fleet condition and ownership status of the five vehicles, including whether any are financed or leased. The 2024 and 2026 Mercedes and Ford units suggest recent capex, so check titles, liens, and remaining useful life of the refrigerated units.
Review the lease running through 12/31/2030 at $3,100 per month and assess renewal risk. Two 1,000 sq ft warehouses with freezer and cooler capacity are operationally critical, so understand relocation cost and whether the space constrains growth.
Validate the 2025 revenue and SDE against bank statements, tax returns, and accounts receivable aging. The listing is seller-reported and conducted confidentially, so insist on verifiable financials before trusting the 2.75x headline multiple.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →