How to Sell Your Product into Performance Foodservice
Google “how to sell to Performance Foodservice” 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.
Performance Food Service is an independently operated food outlet company in the United States. Since its inception, Performance Foodservice has been committed to providing exquisite services to customers and has grown an extensive reach within and outside the country. Currently, the company offers over 200000 products to about 125000 companies and direct consumers.
Leadership and Management
The leadership of Performance Foodservice has continuously created systems and structures that allow customers and members to be exposed to the best variety of products available. One of the company’s cultures is to elect office leaders who have a track record of being passionate about food and who are dedicated to seeing the company and industry thrive. Of course, when selected, the leaders’ passion is easily transferred through every section of the company.
Currently, the company is led by Craig Hoskins as President and Chief Executive Officer. He is supported by a board of directors. Some of the members of this board include Jane Manion as Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Fred Sanelli, Senior Vice President Marketing, Brands and Sales Development, Kevin Walker Vice President National Accounts, Scott Barnewolt Senior Vice President Procurement, Edna Bickett Vice President Information Technology, Jeff Williamson, Senior Vice President Operations and Jeff Fender, Chief Financial Officer among others.
Company Values
The company has continuously given time, energy, and resources towards building structures that elevate the forefront values. Some of these values include putting people first. This means that irrespective of the financial outcomes or other forms of remunerations, it is concerned about its people and those it serves. Primarily, Performance Foodservice is committed to building a working environment that thrives on a culture of trust and openness.
Furthermore, the company is committed to seeing customers thrive. Irrespective of whether the customer involved is a company, food outlet, or specific individuals, Performance Foodservice has, over the years, created a structure that is committed to the success of its customers. Using excellence in product delivery and service has a frontier; it is no surprise that the company continuously gets a recommendation as one of the country’s best food outlet companies. This is in no way an easy feat.
Still, since the company continually accepts responsibility for actions and decisions while serving the immediate communities where they are located, it is no wonder they are everyone’s favorite.
Additionally, the company has built a system that allows it to continually welcome innovative ideas, both from staff members and from the communities and individuals they serve. Asides from this, Performance Foodservice also forms collaborative enterprises with other companies in the industry to allow them to develop models that will further develop the industry and increase their company’s fiscal turnovers.
Sustainability and Giving Back
Since Performance Foodservice is involved in foodservice, it is expected that the company will be involved with activities and campaigns that push for environmental sustainability. The company has done this by adopting systems, strategies, and models that ensure the ecosystem’s viability while still providing top-quality service to its customers.
Conclusively, Performance Foodservice is involved with several community service programs and creates collaborative platforms for other companies to team up in directly benefiting the communities where they are located.
Working with Foodservice Distributors
Merchants Foodservice is an organization created for the sole aim and purpose of diligently providing quality food supplies to their customers. Since the founding of the company in over a century in South Mississippi, the company has passionately discharged its duties of distributing food supplies.
As a food distribution agency, Merchants Foodservice has taken on the law and moral code of providing safe food to their customers and consumers. Through dedication and constant educational programs, the company’s members and staff have adopted a successful and aggressive approach to food safety.
Currently, Merchants Foodservice is the 12th largest foodservice distributor in the United States with 12 operation facilities in the state. This feat was achieved by diligent workers of the state that work for over 6,000 customers. The company is headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Distribution Service
Merchants Foodservice has built its organization on a solid foundation of quality products, timely delivery, and most importantly, excellent customer relation. The company majors in the wholesale distribution of goods, food, beverages, and kitchen supplies. The prestigious concept of time is a culture that this firm has made its bedrock. They deliver to restaurants, eateries, kitchens, amongst many other locations. Therefore, this company takes pride in delivering food ingredients with care and on time.
This highly preserved culture is evident in the firm’s mission statement that says, “we believe in delivering great taste on time- and with the highest level of personal attention.”
Furthermore, the organization operates from ultra-modern warehousing and distribution centers in Newberry, South Carolina, Jackson, Mississippi, and Clanton, Alabama. The warehouse houses over 12,000 in-stock line items, including cooking supplies, meat, fresh produce, dairy, and even cleaning supplies. A team of more than 800 people is stationed at each warehouse, ready to represent the company and attend to each customer’s needs.
Also, the company possesses an around-the-clock online platform where customers can order food and beverages. The firm concomitantly provides in-person visits to their customers for inventory evaluation and recommendations.
In addition to this, delivery trucks also operate; they are responsible for the smooth transportation and delivery of products. The delivery trailers cover South and North Carolina, operating through Tennessee and Georgia to Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Organizational Structure
Merchants Foodservice is led by a board of directors who are vested with the powers and responsibility of ensuring progressive operations. The corporate leadership consists of 5 officers who are highly proficient in their chosen fields and positions. This board is headed by Andy Mercier, the President and Chief Executive Officer.
This team also offers exclusive benefits to its staff, such as Career Development, Health & Wellness, Financial Wellness, and Paid time off. In addition to this, the board and sales representative, the company also offers ideas and innovations to restaurants ranging from Cost Control to Menu Planning and more.
Partnerships
Merchants Foodservice has collaborated with other institutions, retail agencies, and suppliers over the years. These partnerships are based on official relationships and the core responsibility of providing quality products and services. Few of their supplier partnerships include Genpak, Ventura Foods, Essity, and Beaver Street Fisheries.
Find a Foodservice
Distributor
Near Me
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