How to Sell Your Product into Golden State Foods
Google “how to sell to Golden State 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.
Golden State Foods, previously known as Golden State Meat Company, was founded in 1947 by food industry veteran Bill Moore. The organization, which started as a small-scale business to provide meat, hamburger patties, and other supplies to eateries, hotels, and restaurants in Los Angeles and its environs, is now one of the largest suppliers in the food industry worldwide. The establishment is set on core values and principles that have aided their growth over the years.
Since its inception, GSF has partnered with multiple institutions that have helped its evolution. Through their creed and values, which focus on fair and equal treatment, a hundred percent customer satisfaction, and togetherness as the ultimate recipe for success, GSF has tremendously transitioned from being a small business serving approximately 125,000 restaurants in over 40 countries on five continents.
Growth Over The Years
Since its establishment in 1947, Golden State Foods has continuously sought to expand its horizon, which has been successfully achieved. Currently, GSF serves over 40 countries, including Egypt, China, Australia, New Zealand, and many more countries. The organization has effortlessly distributed its products via its quality customs distribution and logistics around the globe while strictly abiding by each country’s foreign policy and laws and consistently maintaining perfection in delivering quality products.
In a bid to expand its horizon and achieve the highest standards in the food industry, GSF, in the 1950s, partnered with McDonald’s Corporation. The partnership was built on principled relationships, fundamental values, and an objective of being prime participants of the food processing and distribution industries. The partnership flourished immensely, with GSF recorded a peak annual sale of $2 million. The enterprise started making beef patties for McDonald’s after a few years in Southern California and went on to become its main beef supplier.
GSF accomplished significant institutional achievement every decade; their unending quest to attain industrial perfection was unmatched. Their progressive attempts to broaden their scope saw the expansion of the company’s product line that included liquid products in the 1960s. The company became an exclusive supplier for McDonald’s in 1967 after an impressive annual sale of $8 million. Exports were made to McDonald’s in the Caribbean, Asia, and South America, and the company opened its first distribution center in San Jose, California. Within the same decade, GSF invented the Big Mac Sauce.
Remarkable development was attained in the next decade. Sales massively leaped from $31 million to over $337 million, and the organization created distribution centers in regions such as Phoenix, New York, Arizona, Greensboro, Hawaii, North California, and many other zones.
Further, the company provided distribution and warehousing for all McDonald’s items to launch the current industry standard, One-Stop-Shopping. Distribution expanded in the 1980s, and GSF began making ketchup for McDonald’s. Sales tripled to $1.7 billion in the 1990s. GSF later went on to acquire Essentia Foods and KanPak China in 2008 and 2012, respectively, for further expansion.
Leadership And Foundation
Golden State Foods continues to expand and is currently one of the world’s largest organic produce suppliers, meat, liquid, and dairy products to the food industry. Pursuing an unending success and seeking to remain at the pinnacle of excellence, GSF is currently led by a highly proficient 9-man Board of Directors and an 18-man Management Committee headed by Chairman and CEO of Golden State Foods; Mark Wetterau.
The company has dedicated itself to the social responsibility of giving back to society through the non-profit organization; GSF Foundation. The foundation makes personal contributions and contributions to enhance the quality of life and education of GSF associates. Partnerships with company vendors such as Morning Star, Aramark, and ADM have provided programs in the foundation such as Bike Building Program, Back(Pack) To School, Coats for Kids, Pedal to Perfection, and Feeding Hunger; A ‘No Lunch’ Lunch.
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