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A food service distributor is a company that provides food and non-food products to restaurants, cafeterias, industrial caterers, hospitals, schools/colleges/universities, nursing homes, and anywhere food is served away from the home.
A food service distributor functions as an intermediary between food manufacturers and the food service operator (usually a chef, food service director, food and beverage manager, and independent food preparation businesses operator owners.) The distributor purchases, stores, sells, and delivers those products, providing food service operators with access to items from a wide variety of manufacturers. Food service distributors procure pallets and bulk inventory quantities that are broken down to case and sometimes unit quantities for the food service operator. Most food service operators purchase from a range of local, specialty, and broadline food service distributors on a daily or weekly basis.
Often a food manufacturer may hire a food brokerage company to represent the manufacturer in a local market. The broker helps the food manufacturer market its products through the food service distribution system, which ranges from getting items stocked at the distributor to working with operators to purchase items from the distributor. At the same time, distributor sales teams work to market products directly to operator customers.
A broadline distributor services a wide variety of accounts with a wide variety of products, while a system distributor stocks a narrow array of products for specific customers, such as restaurant chains. A broadline distributor may carry up to 15,000 different items for purchase and operate sophisticated warehouse and transportation operations. [1]
A small food service distributor is often referred to as a "wagon-jobber". These wagon-jobbers will purchase food in bulk and deliver small quantities to independent retail stores keeping their shelves stocked. Independent distributors and jobbers service independent convenience store markets, bodegas and niche grocery stores. While these distributors are unorganized, networks of independent distributors and wagon jobbers have emerged to give these jobbers the ability to identify trends in the market.
It is estimated by food industry research firm Technomic that approximately 225 million meals are eaten away from home each day in the U.S. This includes both restaurant and non-commercial eating places. The International Foodservice Distributors Association estimates that food service distributors in the U.S., as a daily average, deliver approximately 27 million cases of food and other products. [2]
Food service distribution companies can range in size from a one-truck operation to larger corporations. There are many independent broadline food service distribution companies that service chain and multi-unit restaurants based on master distribution agreements with national food service groups. These groups provide distributor members procurement capabilities that rival the purchasing power of the largest distributors. These distributor groups also provide distributor members group private label brands as well as marketing and quality assurance services.
In the US, the industry is highly fragmented, with Sysco capturing 17% of the market, US Foods with about 9%, PFG with 5%, Gordon Food Service and Gold Star Foods playing a large part as well. The rest are spread across a host of smaller, regional players. [3]
In the food redistribution model, a redistributor will purchase in truckload quantities from many food manufacturers and warehouse these products for its customers. Individual distributors (typically smaller in size and service area) can then purchase items across multiple manufacturers' on one easy to place order from the redistributor.
The redistribution model affords smaller distributors who are unable to purchase direct truckloads an opportunity to purchase from a non-competitor in less than truckload (LTL) quantities, giving them the ability to compete against larger distributors in their territory. Typically, it is the smaller distributor that services the independent non-chain retail outlets often overlooked by the larger distributors.
A convenience store, bodega, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, fruits, vegetables, snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines. In some jurisdictions, convenience stores are licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, although many jurisdictions limit such beverages to those with relatively low alcohol content, like beer and wine. The stores may also offer money order and wire transfer services, along with the use of a fax machine or photocopier for a small per-copy cost. Some also sell tickets or recharge smart cards, e.g. OPUS cards in Montreal or include a small deli. They differ from general stores and village shops in that they are not in a rural location and are used as a convenient supplement to larger stores.
A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a foodservice retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops.
Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it, and a distributor is a business involved in the distribution stage of the value chain. Distribution can be done directly by the producer or service provider or by using indirect channels with distributors or intermediaries. Distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix: the other three elements being product, pricing, and promotion.
A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to consumers. A distribution center is a principal part, the order processing element, of the entire order fulfillment process. Distribution centers are usually thought of as being demand driven. A distribution center can also be called a warehouse, a DC, a fulfillment center, a cross-dock facility, a bulk break center, and a package handling center. The name by which the distribution center is known is commonly based on the purpose of the operation. For example, a "retail distribution center" normally distributes goods to retail stores, an "order fulfillment center" commonly distributes goods directly to consumers, and a cross-dock facility stores little or no product but distributes goods to other destinations.
The foodservice or catering industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many other formats.
Sysco Corporation is an American multinational corporation involved in marketing and distributing food products, smallwares, kitchen equipment and tabletop items to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hospitality businesses like hotels and inns, and wholesale to other companies that provide foodservice. The company is headquartered in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. Sysco is the world's largest broadline food distributor; it has more than 600,000 clients in a wide array of fields. Management consulting is also an integral part of their services. The company operates approximately 330 distribution facilities worldwide; providing service to over 90 countries.
The NPD Group, Inc. is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest market research company in the world, according to the independent AMA Gold Report Top 50 report. The NPD Group operates in 20 countries, across more than 20 industries.
Gordon Food Service (GFS) is a foodservice distributor based in Wyoming, Michigan serving the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the United States and coast-to-coast in Canada. It also operates stores in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Alabama, and Wisconsin.
C&S Wholesale Grocers is a national wholesale grocery supply company in the United States, based in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2021 it was the eighth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed by Forbes. C&S owns the Piggly Wiggly grocery brand, which is independently franchised to store operators, the Grand Union supermarkets brand, as well as several private label brands, including Best Yet.
Dot Foods is the largest foodservice redistribution company in the United States. Dot offers over 112,000 products from 830 food industry manufacturers. Dot consolidates those products and delivers in less-than-truckload (LTL) quantities to distributors nationwide on a weekly basis. Distributors can buy a mix of temperatures and products, with a combined minimum of just 5,000 pounds.
McLane is an American wholesale supply chain services company which distributes grocery and non-food to convenience stores, discount retailers, wholesale clubs, drug stores, military bases, quick service restaurants, and casual dining restaurants throughout the United States. It is also a wholesale distributor of distilled spirits, wine, and beer in some US states. McLane is organised in three segments: grocery distribution, serving about 49,000 retail locations, foodservice distribution, catering to about 36,500 chain restaurants, and beverage distribution, servicing about 24,900 retail locations in the Southeastern US and Colorado.
A marketing channel consists of the people, organizations, and activities necessary to transfer the ownership of goods from the point of production to the point of consumption. It is the way products get to the end-user, the consumer; and is also known as a distribution channel. A marketing channel is a useful tool for management, and is crucial to creating an effective and well-planned marketing strategy.
Foodservice Equipment & Supplies is a trade publication serving the information needs of dealers, broadline distributors, consultants and multi-unit operators who specify and purchase foodservice equipment and supplies.
John Sexton & Company, also known as Sexton Quality Foods, was a broad line national wholesale grocer that serviced the restaurant, hotel and institutional trade from regional warehouses and truck fleets located in major metropolitan areas of the United States. Sexton Quality Foods eventually became US Foodservice in 1997. The company was established in Chicago in 1883 by John Sexton.
Brakes is a food and distribution company supplying food, drink and other products mainly to the catering industry in the UK through more than 20 distribution centres. It provides delivered wholesale and contract logistical services. The company was created in 1958 and headquartered in Ashford, United Kingdom. Brake Bros Limited has been a subsidiary of Sysco Corporation since 5 July 2016 when the latter bought it for $3.1bn.
S.E. Rykoff & Co., also known as SERCO, was a broad line national wholesale grocer that serviced the restaurant, hotel and institutional trade from regional warehouses, sale forces and truck fleets located primarily on the west coast of the United States. S.E. Rykoff & Co. eventually became US Foods in 1997 by merging with JP Foodservice. The company traces its roots to a small family grocery store opened by Harry and Ida Rykoff in Los Angeles, California in 1911.
Bidfood is a foodservice wholesaler and distributor based in the United Kingdom.
CFS Continental, Inc. was a wholesale food distributor started in 1915 by Jacob Cohn in Chicago as the Continental Coffee Company. It is now part of Sysco.
US Foods Holding Corp. is an American food service distributor. With approximately $24 billion in annual revenue, US Foods was the 10th largest private company in America until its IPO. It was founded in August 1989. Many of the entities that make up US Foods were founded in the 19th century, including one that sold provisions to travelers heading west during the 1850s gold rush. US Foods offers more than 350,000 national brand products and its own "exclusive brand" items, ranging from fresh meats and produce to prepackaged and frozen foods. The company employs approximately 25,200 people in more than 60 locations nationwide and provides food and related products to more than 250,000 customers, including independent and multi-unit restaurants, healthcare and hospitality entities, government and educational institutions. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, and is a publicly held company trading under the ticker symbol USFD on the New York Stock Exchange.
Labatt Food Service is a third generation family owned food service distributor involved in marketing and distributing food products to regional chain restaurants, independent operators, schools, quick service chains, healthcare facilities and military bases. Labatt delivers to Food away from home customers in five states in the southern United States. The company is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.