Southern Fulfillment Services is on a roll—literally. The food gifts merchant/fulfillment provider on May 17 announced the launch of a transportation division to serve the foliage industry with full truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) services.

The company, which includes business-to-business and direct-to consumer clients, plans to process loads daily at its Vero Beach, FL, facility for final distribution throughout the country. SFS Transport had been discussed internally for nine months prior to implementation.

“We created SFS Transport to support SFS Logistics, our internal transportation and line haul controls for our six production facilities,” says Don Wright, president/CEO of Southern Fulfillment Services. “Due to the changes in the transportation industry, and the fact that we wanted to use our building assets, we saw an opportunity to expand our trucking business into foliage and other LTL and FTL opportunities.”

The company has added 28 new full-time positions, “and we feel this will grow substantially over the next several months,” Wright says.

Southern Fulfillment Services, which owns Hale Groves, Pittman & Davis and Eilenberger Bakery, has been adding to its merchant stable as well. Earlier this month it acquired citrus fruits retailer Citrus Country Groves. In April it bought Gift Baskets Remembered, an e-commerce gourmet gift baskets company.