Acosta Sales & Marketing

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Acosta Sales & Marketing

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Type	Private
Industry	Marketing
Founded	1927
Headquarters	Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Number of locations	110
Key people	Darian Pickett, CEO
Products	Outsourced headquarter sales, retail services, marketing services, strategic insights and business process solutions[buzzword] for consumer product manufacturers
Revenue	$1.85 billion[1]
Number of employees	37,000
Website	www.acosta.com

Acosta Sales & Marketing is a full-service sales, marketing and service company in North America.^[2] Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Acosta is a sales and marketing company for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. Customers include Clorox and Coca-Cola, which have been clients since the 1930s and 1950s, respectively.

History[]

Acosta is a sales and marketing agency in Jacksonville, Florida, founded in 1927. Throughout its history Acosta has grown its business through acquisition.^[3] In 1956, Common & Company Food Brokers merged with Acosta. Robert (Hy) Albritton, who owned Common, became president and CEO of Acosta when Lou Acosta retired in 1959.^[4] For the first 40 years, the company expanded in northeast Florida but remained small and profitable; in the early 1970s there were around 12 employees servicing a single market.^[2]

Beginning in the 1970s, the Company recognized the value of increased reach and believed that further consolidation would occur with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies, retailers and wholesalers. In 1974 Hy Albritton retired and Delmer Dallas became company president; expansion was at the top of his agenda.^[2] An office in Tampa was opened and the service area expanded to central Florida. A branch in Birmingham, Alabama, was started in 1977. In 1981, the Miami office was opened, and Acosta began serving the whole state of Florida. Dallas recognized that the company could grow faster through acquisitions so Raley Brothers was purchased in 1983, providing an immediate presence in Georgia.^[5] Acosta began doing business in the Carolinas in 1989, effectively covering the southeast U.S. Thereafter, the company expanded westward into Louisiana and began operations in Tennessee and Virginia.

In the 1990s, mass consolidation of food retailers and manufacturers and centralization of procurement centers took place. In 1992, the top five chains accounted for less than 20% of all grocery sales, but as mass retailers like Walmart began to sell groceries, the dynamics in the industry changed. In order to compete, supermarket chains had to become larger as well, and a wave of major mergers took place. By the mid-1990s, the company was servicing 27 markets and employed over 2,000^[2] and held a leading position in the Southeast, seeking growth beyond its core region and the traditional CPG sales and marketing agency business.^[6]

With the merger of Acosta and PMI-Eisenhart ^[7] (located in the Midwest) in July 1998 and the subsequent acquisitions of Kelley-Clarke^[8] (located in the West) in June 1999, the MAI companies (located in the Northeast) in August 1999, and Luke Soules (located in Texas and New Mexico) in July 2003. In 2002, the company also expanded into Canada by bringing together five leading agencies across the country.

By the early 2000s, the top five grocery chains controlled 40% of all sales, and the consolidation trend continued. Faced with a handful of supermarket chains to sell to, manufacturers began to consolidate as well. As a result, both manufacturers and nationwide chains wanted to deal with national sales and marketing agents rather than contend with regional firms.^[9]

Acosta has also bolstered its business through various acquisitions of agencies dedicated to certain business channels. For example, in 2008 Acosta acquired C. Lloyd Johnson Company and entered the military channel,^[10] and in 2010 it acquired FrontLine Marketing to expand its marketing in-store activation services.^{[clarification needed][11]} In 2012, the company entered the foodservice channel through various acquisitions which shaped a national foodservice platform. In addition, in 2012, the company made the largest acquisition in its history with Mosaic Sales Solutions, a sales and merchandising, experiential marketing and interactive firm.^[12] In 2014, Acosta acquired Anderson Daymon Worldwide.^[13][14] In July 2017 Acosta acquired Actionlink.

In December 2019, Acosta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and creditors took over the company.^[15]

Outside advice and equity partner[]

Acosta has had partnerships with investment companies such as Berkshire Partners, AEA Investments, Thomas H. Lee, and The Carlyle Group.^[16]

Leadership[]

Gary Chartrand[]

Former company president Delmer Dallas recruited Gary Chartrand from the Carnation Company in 1983 and mentored him as a successor. Chartrand was named President in 1993 and CEO when Dallas retired in 1996. Two years later Chartrand was elected Chairman of the Board, and company acquisitions accelerated across the US and Canada.^[17] Chartrand believed the best way to protect Acosta was to expand coast-to-coast.^{[citation needed]} As the company expanded, it made strategic acquisitions and mergers which created immediate penetration into new markets and significantly increased the company’s client base.

Robert Hill[]

After working 25 years with Acosta, Gary Chartrand named Robert E. Hill Jr. as its President and CEO, effective January 1, 2009. Chartrand remained with the company as executive chairman of the board of directors.^[18] In 2011, Robert Hill made the Power 50 list by , which represents leaders among top retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, associations and more.^[19]

Services and channels[]

Acosta’s channels are: club, convenience, drug, e-commerce, electronics, foodservice, grocery, home improvement, mass merchandisers, military, natural/specialty foods, telecommunications, and value.

Acosta Sales and Marketing publishes a series of industry insights throughout the year. The research focuses on current and developing industry trends. Their “Hot Topic Reports” are narrowly focused, while their “The Why? Behind the Buy” and “The Why? Behind the Dine” reports feature broader industry coverage.

In 2015, Acosta Sales & Marketing, partnered with Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), the leading media company serving Hispanic America, to release "The Why? Behind The Buy" U.S. Hispanic Shopper Study.

Awards and recognition[]

Progressive Grocer's Top Women in Grocery awards program recognizes the significance of Acosta's female employees' role in enriching the industry. The integral role women play across all areas of the dynamic retail food industry, and within the retailer and supplier communities. The awards are distributed in three categories: Senior-Level Executives, Rising Stars and Store Managers.^[20]

Acosta also participates in the Network of Executive Women (NEW) to promote opportunities for women in the CPG industry. Acosta’s achievements have been recognized by the organization.^[21]

See also[]

• List of Marketing Topics

References[]

External links[]