Ace: The Plant-Based Authority for the Tri-State Area

August 24, 2023

When Larry Vierling founded Ace in Manhattan in 1995, he was focused on making it the one-stop shop for natural and organic food distribution serving the foodservice industry. At the time, that mostly translated to vegetarian food.

“Back in the eighties and nineties, in the early days of organics, it was really more of a vegetarian movement,” remembers Ace’s CEO Tor Newman. This was, in large part, because there were so few animal products being produced as certified organic. “Most of our customers who were concentrating on healthy food were using all vegetarian food—often because that was all that was organic.”  There was a large focus on meat substitutes like tofu, tempeh, and seitan.

About a decade ago, vegan food began to grow in popularity until it became even more prevalent than organic food. Due to our customers’ increasing desire for plant-based items, we were already providing a wide selection of vegan products, especially alternative proteins and dairy substitutes. Because Ace was servicing New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, we were naturally positioned to become the wholesale plant-based authority for the region.

Now, vegan and organic food often go hand-in-hand, and no one bats an eye when someone says they adhere to a vegan or plant-based diet. In fact, there are around 88 million vegans in the world, which translates to 1-2% of the world’s population.

And Ace is here to support, with a large array of delicious, organic, plant-based options stocked in our warehouse. “Our value proposition is that we offer natural, healthy, clean products,” says Tor. “Our first mission is—and has always been— promoting organic foods. And that naturally makes us the plant-based authority for the tri-state area.