contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . march 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message acosta sales & marketing trusted brands trust us type private industry marketing founded 1927 headquarters jacksonville florida usa number of locations 110 1 key people robert hill president & ceo products outsourced headquarter sales retail services marketing services strategic insights and business process solutions for consumer product manufacturers revenue 1.85 billion 2 owner the carlyle group 2 number of employees 37 000 1 website www.acosta.com acosta sales & marketing is a full service sales marketing and service company in north america . 3 headquartered in jacksonville florida acosta is a sales and marketing company for consumer packaged goods cpg companies . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 outside advice and equity partner 2 leadership 2.1 gary chartrand 2.2 robert hill 3 clients and customers 4 services and channels 5 awards and recognition 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit acosta is a sales and marketing agency in jacksonville florida founded in 1927 . throughout its history acosta has grown its business through acquisition . 4 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 . 5 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 . 3 beginning in the 1970s the company started to acquire leading sales and marketing agents in contiguous markets within the southeast . at that time 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 . 3 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 . 6 acosta began doing business in the carolinas in 1989 effectively covering the southeast u.s. 7 thereafter the company expanded westward into louisiana and began operations in tennessee and virginia . the 1990s brought mass consolidation of food retailers and manufacturers and centralization of procurement centers . 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 3 and held the leading position in the southeast seeking growth beyond its core region and the traditional cpg sales and marketing agency business . 8 with the merger of acosta and pmi eisenhart 9 located in the midwest in july 1998 and the subsequent acquisitions of kelley clarke 10 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 acosta became a national agent and positioned itself favorably for future growth . 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 . 11 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 12 and in 2010 it acquired frontline marketing to expand its marketing in store activation services . 13 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 leading sales and merchandising experiential marketing and interactive firm . 14 in 2014 acosta acquired anderson daymon worldwide . 15 16 outside advice and equity partner edit acosta has had partnerships with investment companies such as berkshire partners aea investments thomas h. lee and the carlyle group . 17 leadership edit gary chartrand edit 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 . 18 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 edit 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 . 19 recently robert hill made the power 50 list by supermarket news which represents leaders among top retailers wholesalers manufacturers associations and more . 20 clients and customers edit acosta has developed and maintains long standing relationships with leading companies . in fact acosta works with 25 of the top 30 cpg companies . several of the relationships originated over 50 years ago . examples of the company s longstanding relationships include the clorox company and coca cola north america which have been clients since the 1930s and 1950s respectively . 21 services and channels edit acosta s channels are club convenience drug e commerce electronics foodservice grocery home improvement mass merchandisers military natural specialty foods telecom 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 . the most recent report showcased the changes in u.s. consumers eating habits . 22 trends in snacking also were discussed in the report . twenty five per cent of total u.s. shoppers surveyed by acosta said they eat a snack once a day while 26 % said they eat a snack two or three times a day and 4 % do so four or more times a day . 23 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 . the report reveals valuable insights into u.s. hispanic shopper behavior . 24 with the growth of the u.s. hispanic population this report will help cpg companies and retailers develop marketing strategies to best attract this important consumer segment . 25 awards and recognition edit acosta received top women in grocery awards from progressive grocer a respected cpg industry magazine for several years in a row . citation needed progressive grocer s top women in grocery awards program recognizes the integral role women play across all areas of the dynamic retail food industry within the retailer and supplier communities . the awards are distributed in three categories senior level executives rising stars and store managers . 26 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 . 27 see also edit list of marketing topics references edit a b c 1 a b 2 a b c d skidmore sarah 3 florida times union june 15 2004 delmer dallas longtime local businessman dies of cancer 4 5 answers.com acosta sales & marketing company 6 acosta inc. google finance 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 basch mark thomas h. lee partners buys controlling stake in jacksonville based acosta florida times union january 5 2011 veiders christina sn power 50 for 2009 gary chartrand supermarket news july 14 2009 hill named acosta ceo ; chartrand becomes executive chairman supermarket news november 13 2008 supermarket news power 50 list clients and customers permanent dead link 16 17 18 19 20 21 external links edit v t e jacksonville area based corporations list of companies in jacksonville florida fortune 1000 corporations 2015 rank csx corporation 240 fidelity national financial 314 fis 422 landstar system 719 publicly traded corporations ameris bancorp atlantic coast financial black knight financial services everbank frp holdings patriot transportation rayonier rayonier advanced materials regency centers stein mart web.com privately held businesses acosta sales & marketing availity axia public relations bloch publishing company crowley maritime elkins constructors fanatics firehouse subs florida blue florida east coast railway gate petroleum haskell company huckins yacht corporation i wear your shirt jacksonville free press kbj architects larry s giant subs m. d. moody & sons mac papers medmal direct insurance company metro jacksonville mobro marine pga tour reynolds smith & hills ring power safariland st. vincent s healthcare sally corporation seward trunk co. southeastern grocers stellar group swisher international group trailer bridge us assure vystar credit union us headquarters of foreign businesses adecco group north america association of tennis professionals beeline buffet group usa h egh autoliners northgate information solutions survitec group north america venus fashion otto division headquarters of us corporations florida coastal school of law infilaw system the florida times union morris communications foundation financial group interline brands the home depot parallel infrastructure florida east coast industries pss world medical mckesson corporation southeast toyota distributors jm family enterprises unison industries ge aviation vistakon johnson & johnson retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title acosta sales % 26 marketing & oldid 742398406 categories 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