Delta Produce
What it does: Food distribution
Founders: Kosta Dionisopoulos, 24, and Christos Marafatsos, 24 (pictured left to right)
Website: delta-produce.com
Based: Washington
Revenue 2010: $1.9 million
Revenue 2011 (projected): $2.6 million
Most produce distributors stick to delivering fresh food, but Christos Marafatsos' Delta Produce also does online marketing for its customers and helps them reduce costs by pairing them to buy in bulk. Marafatsos, who completed finance studies at the University of Maryland, started Delta Produce in September 2009 with Kosta Dionisopoulos, a UMD classmate who worked through college delivering produce from a van. They now employ 18 people, including a full-time engineer who helps customers build websites and market on social networks. “Both my partner and I are young, so [interacting online is] something we’re accustomed to doing,” he says. Their customers range from restaurants to grocery stores to small wholesalers in the Washington area. —Joel Stonington
Founders: Kosta Dionisopoulos, 24, and Christos Marafatsos, 24 (pictured left to right)
Website: delta-produce.com
Based: Washington
Revenue 2010: $1.9 million
Revenue 2011 (projected): $2.6 million
Most produce distributors stick to delivering fresh food, but Christos Marafatsos' Delta Produce also does online marketing for its customers and helps them reduce costs by pairing them to buy in bulk. Marafatsos, who completed finance studies at the University of Maryland, started Delta Produce in September 2009 with Kosta Dionisopoulos, a UMD classmate who worked through college delivering produce from a van. They now employ 18 people, including a full-time engineer who helps customers build websites and market on social networks. “Both my partner and I are young, so [interacting online is] something we’re accustomed to doing,” he says. Their customers range from restaurants to grocery stores to small wholesalers in the Washington area. —Joel Stonington
