Companies, organizations, and programs that collect food from the producers, carefully store it in warehouses, and finally distribute it to restaurants, stores, cafeterias, hotels, or grocery stores, are called food distributors. If you want to know more, keep reading.
Types of food distributors
There are four main types of food distributors, so let me first introduce you to them.
- Cash and carry distributors
These distributors mainly operate warehouses, and they’re not involved in goods transportation. Foodservice operators visit these warehouses and select the needed products. They pay and leave the warehouse with the products. Restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, and caterers mainly use Cash and carry distributor services.
- Redistributors
Redistributors purchase bulk food products from the manufacturers and then distribute a part of them to small distributors. They don’t deal directly with foodservice operators.
- Specialty distributors
This type of distributor deals with particular products and often also owns the equipment to deal with these special products. Sometimes they also work with niche-based operators. For example, specialty distributors can work with halal restaurants as they need a particular type of food.
Restaurants can easily skip cross-examinations when they buy the foods from these distributors. They also don’t worry about issues like contamination. This kind of distributor operates on a small scale, but it’s quite important for some businesses.
- Broadline distributors
These distributors handle all the work related to this business unlike any other on the list. They typically manage a large volume of products and also provide discounts to bulk buyers. You might assume it’s a loss for smaller businesses, but even they can avail it with a little creativity.
Since small food operators cannot purchase large amounts of products individually, they can create a group of food operators or join purchasing organizations.
The operation system of the food distributors
The job of the food contributors is to handle food storage and food transportation-related matters. Every food distributor has its own way of operation.
Multiple food distributors also work independently. New manufacturers and producers can develop a supply chain just by appointing this contributor.
Some food distributors store food for a short span in warehouses. Many of them transport goods directly to food service operators using refrigerated trucks. The duration and method of transportation depend on the type of food distributed.
Some food distributors market their selling products, and customers, aka the food service operators, buy products from them directly. It helps producers and manufacturers focus on their work instead of handling all the marketing and supply chain-related issues.
If you want to sell your products to food distributors, here are some things that you must follow.
● You must make sure that consumers know about your product.
● Create a good relationship with operators and discuss your product and how it can help their business to grow. These operators will help create the demand, and the food distributor will be more prone to pick your products.
● You cannot sell directly to the food service operator as they won’t be able to buy enough products that cover the shipping charge.
● Make sure you look for a reliable food distributor in your nearby areas. My friend’s business produces snacks, chocolates, etc., and is based in Europe or the UK, so she contacted taste food distributors at https://taste.net.au/ and was really satisfied with the services because of their rock-solid operation system.
Advantages of using Food distributors
But that’s not all; joining forces with any kind of food distributor helps you in more ways than you can imagine. Here’s how.
· Though not always, they will take the heavy duty of selling and marketing your product.
● The food distributor handles the transportation and warehousing.
● Your only job is to make your food tasty and introduce new food products in the market.
● You don’t have to worry about the storage of perishable products like milk and milk-related products.
● They help you maximize your product availability.
Over to you…
Now that you know all about food distributors, you can choose a suitable one for your business based on their portfolio. Hand over the headache of food distribution to them and focus on building your business.
