Fresh produce collective TruSource has officially launched, bringing together leading regional operating companies — Freshway Foods, Forestwood and Nickey Gregory — with deep market expertise established customer relationships, and a shared commitment to service, quality and reliability.

Founded in early 2025, TruSource currently includes Freshway Foods, Forestwood and Nickey Gregory, representing more than 100 combined years of fresh produce experience serving over 4,000 customers with a distribution network that reaches 26 states east of the Mississippi River, and continues to expand. Through TruSource, each operating company retains its name, people, customer relationships and local presence while gaining access to shared resources, broader sourcing strength, operational support and additional capabilities to serve customers across a growing national footprint.

TruSource was created for a fresh produce marketplace that increasingly requires local agility, broader sourcing strength and more resilient supply chain capabilities. It is designed to strengthen regional operating companies without replacing the local relationships, leadership and service models that customers know and trust.

“Fresh produce distribution has always been a relationship business,” said Elton Evans, founder, chairman and CEO of TruSource. “TruSource was built on the belief that scale creates value only when it strengthens the people, relationships and local service customers rely on every day. Our role is to preserve what makes strong regional distributors successful while adding the capabilities, resources and strategic support needed to compete and grow.”

For customers, TruSource is designed to bring greater reliability, expanded capabilities and continued local service. Customers will continue working with the local teams and operating company brands they know, while operating companies gain shared support to strengthen sourcing, distribution, processing, value-added services, quality, technology and commercial capabilities.

“Customers need partners who can deliver consistency, reliability and responsiveness across an increasingly complex fresh produce marketplace,” said Kristie Waters, chief commercial officer of TruSource. “TruSource gives our operating companies the ability to stay close to their customers and markets while gaining the broader capabilities, resources and support needed to serve them even better. It also enables us to build long-term, sustainable supplier partnerships that strengthen our supply network and create value for both our customers and suppliers.”

TruSource will continue to grow through a thoughtful selection process focused on operating companies with strong leadership, customer-first service cultures, and the ability to contribute meaningfully to the collective.