The Foodservice Distributor and Operator Landscape

Foodbevy and Matt, Rooted Food Sales

March 21, 2022

In Foodservice, the opportunity to enter are wide open. Unlike grocery, you can pitch your product at any given time and are not bound to a rigid, yearly schedule. Foodservice allows you to go after an opportunity any time you see one.

Furthermore, you can consider entering into Foodservice while carrying out your grocery strategy. Utilizing Foodservice as an alternative revenue channel provides you additional opportunities and varying customers that might not necessarily be target grocery consumers. By  selling into both markets, you can capture typical grocery consumers and others, such as sports fans watching a game in a stadium or students in their University cafeteria.

There are many foodservice channels and finding your way in can be complicated. Let’s break down how the channels work and who the various stakeholders are.

 

Foodservice Channels

There are a dozen foodservice channels, and each one operates differently. We break down channels into two overarching strategies. Kitchens are places selling bulk prepared foods, where CPG including any packaged, single-serve item.

  • Kitchen Channels
    • Corporate Cafeteria
    • College and University Cafeterias
    • Quick Service Restaurant (QSR)
    • Grocery Prepared Goods
    • Stadium Concessions
    • Healthcare
    • Military
  • CPG Channels
    • Corporate break rooms
    • College and University stores
    • Convenience
    • Micro Markets
    • Travel
    • Healthy Vending
    • Hotels
    • Military

 

Foodservice Distributors

Similarly, each channel has it’s own set of distributors. There is some overlap, but most have their own focus.

  • Kitchen Distributors
    • Sysco
    • Gordon Food Service
    • US Foods
    • Performance Food Group
    • Baldor
    • Shamrock Foods
    • Cheney Brothers
  • CPG Distributors
    • UNFI
    • Vistar
    • Core-Mark
    • National Convenience Distributors (NCD)
    • McLane
    • Performance Food Group
    • Barnes and Noble Bookstores (College)

 

Foodservice Operators 

These are the companies that run the operations on site. Sometimes they operate the cafeterias and stores, other times they just keep the break room stocked. Ultimately these are the companies who control where your product will be in stock. They are the gatekeepers to growth in the channel.

  • Compass Group (Corporate, Micromarkets)
  • Tradecraft (Corporate)
  • Aramark (Corporate, University, Healthcare)
  • Sodexo (Corporate, University, Healthcare)
  • Premier (Healthcare)
  • Crafty (Corporate)
  • Avendra (Hotel)

 

Where to start

It’s important to start in a channel where your product will have the best fit. Snacks and beverages can do well in Corporate Offices and University stores, while tahini, spreads, and pantry items may do better in bulk settings like Grocery Prepared Foods and Stadium Concessions. 

Once you identify your starting channel, the best way to get in is to develop a relationship with the end user. If you’re targeting corporate offices, reach out to someone in your network who works at the company. Let them know about your company, ask if they have a corporate snack/cafeteria program, and have them find out who’s in charge. Some of the titles they may have include: Office Manager, Employee Experience Coordinator, or HR Director. Then set up a call, send over samples, and have them request your product through their Foodservice Operator.

After you land your first office account and get into an operator, now it’s time to work within the operator to expand. Prove that you can successfully serve your existing customer and show strong sales. Then request a meeting to pitch to their sales team, so you can hand out samples and educate on the product. Leverage their larger customer network to expand throughout the operator. This is easier said than done, so you must have a great product that’s selling well to be successful.

Want more info on pitching to Foodservice buyers? Read our article here.

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