Homegrown Roche Bros. chain to be sold to Connecticut grocery wholesaler, which plans no changes

Members of the family that owns Roche Bros., which grew from a Roslindale Square meat market in 1952 into today's Roche Bros. and Sudbury Farms chains, are selling controlling interest in the company to a Connecticut food-delivery concern that has long been the chains' principal supplier of food and other products.

Family members who are retiring from the grocery business are selling 51% of RBSBW, Inc., the Mansfield company that owns the supermarkets, to Michael Bozzuto, owner of Bozzuto's in Cheshire, CT, Roche Bros. attorney Andrew Upton told the Boston Licensing Board yesterday at a hearing to request approval of a change in corporate ownership at the West Roxbury and Downtown Crossing Roche Bros. stores.

Aside from the composition of the company's ownership, "there are no changes to any aspect of operation, hours, management, floor plans," Upton said. "No aspect of any location here or anywhere in Massachusetts is changing."

Upton added the change in ownership has already been approved by the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which has ultimate control over liquor licensing in the state - both stores have liquor licenses.

The board approved the changes unanimously today. The Westwood select board holds a similar hearing on the status of the Roche Bros. store there on Nov. 18.

Bozzuto's, which services supermarkets across New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, has been supplying Roche Bros. staples since earlier in the century, according to a 2007 article in Supermarket News:

[Rick] Roche noted that Bozzuto's is innovative. “They're always asking our opinion on how they can do it better, which is a great thing to see,” he said.

Michael Bozzuto, chairman, president and CEO, said the relationship with Roche goes both ways. “They exude a caring philosophy to their communities, their employees and their supplier relationships. That is a common characteristic you see with all our customers. We are in it together, and work together to get to the common goal.”

Watch the hearing: