Aaron’s Organics has acquired Sydney distribution business Ozone Organics and its premises, boosting its share of the “new-age” beverage market.
The acquisition has increased the company’s client base to more than 800 accounts, according to CEO Aaron Zerefos. This is not the first time Zerefos has been involved in food and beverage distribution – he and his father Bill formerly owned dairy product distributor Simotas Food Distributors in 2014. Zerefos told Food and Drink Business that he was keen to get back into the industry and support his brand, C Organic Coconut Water.
“I am pleased to finally announce the deal is done, and we’re open for business,” Zerefos said. “I’m looking forward to the next chapter, with Aaron’s Organics supplying new-age beverages and snacks to the Sydney market, and hopefully expanding to America one day.”
“I started out in distribution when I was nineteen years of age, so I thought sitting on the sidelines was bit of a waste, and that I could contribute a lot to the industry with so many years under my belt already.
“I was waiting for the right opportunity – the Ozone acquisition is worth the wait and will complement my current portfolio of products. The milk alternative market is very exciting right now,” he told F&DB.
This portfolio includes C Organic Coconut Water as well as Fiji Water and JUST Water. An American expansion may also be on the cards, said Zerefos.
“C Organic Coconut Water is fast becoming the Fiji Water of coconut waters around the world. People look for quality, and C has been the ‘go-to’ coconut water in New York and Los Angeles this spring on the back of a record summer for the brand in Australia,” he said.
“Consumer demand will indicate where we should grow in Australia, but the main focus will be Sydney and the east coast at the moment. Los Angeles and New York are places I am already doing business in with C Coconut Water, so that makes commercial sense in the future, and other acquisitions are on the cards potentially.”
Aaron’s Organics will move into Ozone’s current warehouse.
