How to Sell Your Product into DPI Specialty Foods
Google “how to sell to DPI Specialty Foods” and you’ll find that submitting a product through their site is the first step. This might not be a bad option if you’re ready for a very long review and sales cycle. However, if you’re not prepared for how the company operates, there are plenty of potential pitfalls to submitting a product early as you may only have one chance.
DPI Specialty Foods is an organization that majors in the sales, distribution, and marketing of food across national and regional levels. DPI provides its services to independent retailers and international vendors. The company has taken on the responsibility of providing specialty foods in the United States.
Built decades ago, DPI has recorded major wins and success through efficient provision of products to its customers. Today, the organization boasts of supplying over 40,000 stock keeping units consisting of both perishable and non-perishable goods. DPI has massively evolved over the years. This organization’s constant progress is through an incredible team that constantly seeks to better the life and business of their customers.
Furthermore, the company’s retail experience has immensely contributed to the professional relationship established with the customers. DPI has also created exciting marketing programs that narrow down to each customer’s needs. Therefore, this has increased customer experience and kept DPI at the peak of the food distribution industry. The company has also invested in Cheese products for over 45 years.
DPI is respected as an industry leader in cheese packing. The organization employs cheese experts that seek cheese products. A variety of cheese available in DPI includes Blue Cheese, Soft Cheese, Semi-soft Cheese, Fresh Cheese, Goat Cheese, Soft Ripen, and Hard Cheese. These uniquely made cheeses are shipped from all around the globe to fully satisfy customers. Some of the locations are Denmark, France, Ireland, UK, Greece, and Spain
Products & Services
DPI has since its inception considered customers as a top priority. This is why the organization has created service solutions that are tailored down to each customer’s need. The company has acknowledged the individual differences of its customers and has provided customers tailored solutions. This innovation, combined with various products, has cemented DPI’s spot as the ultimate marketing and distribution agency.
This specialty food company has made available a substantial variety of foods for its customers ranging from International dishes, Ethnic foods and Natural, Gluten-Free, and Organic products. DPI is a customer-driven brand.
The organization has created an extensive network of retailers around the globe to provide specialty food products, seasonal dishes, and unconventional products. These products are available through the customer tailored programs that ensure all vendors’ needs are catered for.
Distribution
DPI has provided a systemic and logical strategy that ensures the well-ordered distribution of products. The company has tactically positioned itself at key geographical zones to ensure total market coverage. The strategically placed divisions also aid a swift response when customers demand products.
Through DPI’s Logistics, customers are guaranteed timely delivery of goods. Also, DPI has a national distribution network that works together with its Logistics. These segments work hand in hand to provide solutions for customers with multiple delivery requests. The reliable and timely delivery of products ranging from seasonal dishes to innovative products of DPI is unrivaled. Hence success is guaranteed for the company.
Leadership
DPI is currently led by five officers that are at the helm of affairs. This team is headed by Russ Blake, who serves as the Chief Executive Officer and presides over all company affairs and operations.
Working with Foodservice Distributors
Every year, more people eat outside of their homes. This trend has led to a rising potential for food , beverage and seafood businesses to become foodservice industry suppliers. Restaurants, hotels, hospitals, retirement communities, nursing homes, military bases, prisons and leisure facilities are included in the foodservice sector and are often referred to as the HRI Trade (Hospitality, Restaurants and Institutions). Foodservice operators are aggressively pursuing a diverse supply of food and beverage goods and there is a rising appetite for local and unique food selections.
Many foodservice distributors can trace their roots back to the mid-1800s when they started as family owned companies. The trend has continued in the industry as new foodservice distributors have entered the market and some of the original companies have maintained their independent / family owned status.
There are different requirements for the foodservice trade than for grocery retail, especially with respect to packaging and labeling. Pack sizes are usually larger and labels that appeal to customers are not needed. In “me-too” items, foodservice operators have no interest. Your product needs to be distinguished from the competition. There are many ways of identifying a product; only a few concepts are packaging, convenience and a business tale. For example, there are many honey products on the market; by using more compact packaging, innovative recipes and sharing the unique story of how the business started, a new honey may be distinguished from the competition.
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The food industry firm, Technomics, estimated that approximately 225 million meals are eaten away from home each day in the United States. This includes both restaurant and non-commercial eating places. Americans can be very busy and at the same time social. Many Americans prefer to have at least one meal outside every day. It could be the lunch during work, or the breakfast at a restaurant opposite the office, or a late dinner with a friend at a nice place; it is a dominant culture in the country.
However, we know the names of these restaurants, we may know the popular chefs but the people who deliver food products the restaurants prepare are hardly known by us because they are always behind the scenes. These people are known as foodservice distributors.
A foodservice distributor works as an intermediary between manufacturers of food products and the foodservice operator. This could be a chef, foodservice director, food and beverage manager, and independent food preparation businesses operator owners. The foodservice distributor procures, stores, sells, and makes deliveries of food products, providing foodservice operators with access to items from a wide variety of manufacturers. Foodservice distributors purchase pallets and bulk inventory quantities that are broken down to case and sometimes unit quantities for the foodservice operator. Most foodservice operators purchase from a range of local, specialty, and broadline foodservice distributors on a regular basis which could be daily or weekly basis.
It would have been very difficult for restaurants to meet the nutritional needs of about 65% – 70% of Americans who eat outside every day if not for the job of foodservice distributors in the line. There are a lot of things to be concerned with in the running of a restaurant and it would be an enormous burden if restaurants go to manufacturers of food products to keep getting supplies which could be as frequent as daily or weekly. Someone has to be in the line meeting demands and getting the products across to the restaurants.
It should be clarified at this point that foodservice distributors don’t only distribute to restaurants, they also get food products to cafeterias, industrial caterers, and hospital and nursing homes.
Estimates by the International Foodservice Distributors Association reveal that foodservice distributors in the Unites States, as a daily average, deliver approximately 27 million cases of food and other products.
There are several foodservice companies and they may very well range in size from a one-truck operation to larger corporations. There are broadline foodservice distributor offers a wide array 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 topnotch warehouse and transportation operations.
The average American who eats out has the cause to be grateful to foodservice distributors. The industry sector is projected to grow as more eating places are looking at offering their customers more varieties.
Top 10 Foodservice Distributors
- Cheney Brothers
- Sysco Corp.
- US Foods
- McLane Foodservice
- Performance Foodservice
- Cooper-Booth Wholesale Co.
- Gordon Food Service
- DOT Foods
- Reinhart Foodservice
- The Martin-Brower Co.
- Porky Products
- Ben E. Keith Co.
- Shamrock Foods Co.
- KeHE Distributors
- Food Services of America
- Vistar Transportation
- Golden State Foods
- Lipari Foods
- Buffalo Rock Co.
- Merchants Foodservice
- Blue Line Foodservice Distribution
- Labatt Food Service
- Systems Services of America
- DPI Specialty Foods
- Coastal Pacific Food Distributors
- Dutch Valley Foods
- Vendors Supply Inc.
- Orion Food System
- Jake’s Finer Foods