)
Melbourne-based food wholesale order management platform Fresho has acquired UK software provider Freshmetrics, its second buyout in the British market in less than three weeks as it consolidates a fragmented sector and cements its position as the leading technology platform for UK food wholesalers.
The deal, announced today for an undisclosed sum, brings Fresho's UK customer base to more than 500 businesses processing £2.5 billion ($4.8 billion) in annual gross merchandise value (GMV).
Combined with its Australian operations, Fresho now supports more than 1,000 businesses globally.
The Freshmetrics acquisition comes on the heels of Fresho's buyout of Nation Wilcox, a 48-year-old UK food wholesale software firm, announced earlier this month.
That deal combined Fresho's existing UK base of 250 customers with Nation Wilcox's portfolio to create a network of more than 400 UK businesses and £2 billion ($3.8 billion) in annual GMV.
Freshmetrics, led by CEO Gordon Wilcox and director Jon Shakespeare, provides order management, online shop and business intelligence tools to fresh food wholesalers across the United Kingdom.
The company helps food distribution businesses manage inventory, reduce waste, handle route planning and streamline warehouse and distribution operations, capabilities that are directly complementary to Fresho's order-to-payment platform.
"Joining Fresho is an exciting moment for Freshmetrics and for our customers," says Wilcox.
"This is the right home for our business and our team. Together we can go further and faster than we could independently, and our customers will have access to a platform and a roadmap that will make a real difference to how they operate."
Founded by James Andronis and Huw Birrell in 2015, Fresho has grown from an Australian startup into a global platform supporting fresh food distributors across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, Ireland and the United States.
Fresho's platform brings together ordering, picking, invoicing and payments into a single system, using AI to automate order capture and reduce manual administration for wholesalers and food service caterers.
Fresho launched in the UK market in 2020, building its customer base to more than 250 businesses before the two rapid-fire acquisitions this month.
The company raised $17 million in a Series B funding round at the end of 2024 to fuel its international expansion.
Jamie Foale, Fresho's general manager for the UK and Ireland, says the back-to-back deals reflect the company's ambition to unite a historically fragmented market under a single technology platform.
"This acquisition strengthens our position as the leading technology platform for food wholesalers in the UK, and brings together complementary operational expertise with a modern, AI-driven platform," says Foale.
"Together we can serve wholesalers of all sizes across the market, and keep investing in the tools that will help them improve how they run their businesses.”
The earlier Nation Wilcox acquisition brought across a business founded in 1978 with deep roots in the UK food wholesale sector.
Nation Wilcox managing director Andrew Nation said at the time that the partnership would ensure continuity for existing customers while opening up access to Fresho's broader technology stack and global network.
)
