Written by: Sam Caucci, Founder & CEO, 1Huddle Ask any restaurant operator their number one problem and you’ll usually get the same answer. Labor. They’re right about the problem. They’re wrong about the cause. Your people aren’t the problem. Your training is. Because most of it was built for a workforce that doesn’t exist anymore. Meet Your New Workforce The person running your floor tonight grew up with a phone in their hand. Restaurant workers are three times more likely than the overall U.S. workforce to be under 25, and 78% of Gen Z adults have worked in a restaurant. This is your talent pool. And their attention doesn’t sit still. Research from UC Irvine found the average person now holds attention on a screen for about 47 seconds before switching. In 2004, it was two and a half minutes. Now think about how you train them. A binder. A

Food distribution technology has become essential as food distribution grows increasingly complex. Distributors are managing larger product catalogs, tighter delivery windows, rising operating costs, increasing customer expectations, and growing pressure to make faster decisions across every part of the business. At the same time, many organizations are still relying on disconnected systems and manual processes that make it difficult to maintain visibility across inventory, procurement, logistics, and customer operations. Those gaps create inefficiencies that affect service levels, profitability, and long-term growth. That’s why food distribution technology has become a competitive advantage rather than simply an operational upgrade. Modern technology gives distributors the visibility, automation, and data they need to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and build more resilient supply chains. In this guide, we’ll explore how technology is transforming the food distribution industry and where it’s delivering the greatest impact Why Food Distribution Is Becoming More Complex  Let’s face it, the landscape for foodservice

A product substitution can affect a recipe. A pricing discrepancy can affect a location’s margins. A change in purchasing volume can affect a supplier’s planning. Across foodservice, decisions made by one organization have consequences for the people and businesses around it.  That makes the quality of those relationships a business priority. Operators need partners who understand how their businesses run. Suppliers and distributors need visibility into what their customers need. Internal teams need reliable information and clear responsibilities to keep everyone moving toward the same goals.  Those connections provided the focus for Building the Next Generation of Foodservice Relationships at Prosper Forum. Moderated by Jeff Dorr, Division President of SaaS at Buyers Edge Platform, the session featured John Davie, CEO of Buyers Edge Platform, and Stacy Peterson, President and COO of Jersey Mike’s. The session centered on strengthening partnerships, improving decision-making, and using technology to support efficiency and transparency.  The

Sports season has a way of turning an ordinary shift into a full-house event. A table orders wings for the game. A family grabs dinner on the way home from practice. At a hotel, fans want something quick before kickoff. In healthcare and senior living communities, fall menus bring chili, soup and other comforting favorites back into rotation.  The menus may look different from one foodservice operation to the next, but the packaging challenge is often the same: food needs to be packed quickly, carried confidently and enjoyed the way the kitchen intended.  That makes packaging more than a last-minute supply decision. It is part of the guest experience and the flow of service, especially when volume climbs. A little planning now, including a look at options such as Pactiv EarthChoice soup cups and hinged-lid containers, can help teams move through the sports-season rush and stay ready for the colder

Every meal served outside the home depends on a complex network working behind the scenes. Products must be sourced, stored, sold, transported, and delivered at the right temperature and in the right condition. And, ideally, they arrive before the kitchen realizes how close it came to running out.  That puts food distributors at the center of one of the largest and most operationally demanding supply chains in the country.  This food distribution industry analysis examines the size of the U.S. foodservice distribution market, the companies operating within it, and the trends changing how distributors compete. It also explores a growing business priority: using purchasing and demand data to find profitable opportunities in a market where volume alone does not always tell the full story.  How Big Is the Food Distribution Industry?  The U.S. foodservice distribution industry generates approximately $400 billion in annual sales, according to the International Foodservice Distributors Association⁠.

If you’ve ever wondered why some food and beverage brands seem to be everywhere (stocked in every walk-in cooler, featured on regional menus, and reliably delivered by broadline trucks), the answer almost always comes down to one thing: restaurant distribution.  For manufacturers, getting a product onto a restaurant menu takes more than a great recipe, strong branding, or competitive pricing. It takes a clear, strategic approach to the invisible machinery that moves goods from a factory floor to a commercial kitchen.  In this guide, we break down how restaurant distribution works, the models that dominate the space, the common hurdles you will encounter, and the data-driven strategies you can use to grow your market share.  What Is Restaurant Distribution?  Restaurant distribution refers to the specialized supply chain network and process used to move food products, beverages, equipment, and non-food supplies from manufacturers to foodservice operators.  Because restaurants purchase hundreds of

Football season creates a unique demand pattern for foodservice operators because traffic is often concentrated around predictable game times. Instead of a typical lunch or dinner rush, operators may see sharp increases in orders before kickoff, during halftime, and immediately after a game. At the same time, guests watching on-site may stay longer than they would during a traditional dining occasion.  That combination can affect nearly every part of the operation. Kitchens need to produce high volumes of popular items quickly, bars and beverage stations must keep up with sustained demand, and takeout orders can compete with dine-in tickets for kitchen capacity. Inventory can also move differently, with game-day staples such as wings, fries, handhelds, snacks, beverages, and packaging seeing heavier usage.  Before foodservice football season gets into full swing, operators should evaluate:  Historical sales and product mix: Review previous game days to identify which items experienced the largest increases

Growing sales in foodservice has never been as simple as making a great product and getting it onto a distributor’s truck.  Manufacturers are selling into a market made up of thousands of operators, multiple distributor networks, shifting menus, regional preferences, contract relationships, and individual purchasing decisions. A product can be available to an operator and still never make it onto the order. It can be on contract but lose cases to a competing item. It can perform well in one market and barely move in another.  That complexity is exactly why foodservice sales growth increasingly comes down to visibility.  Manufacturers need to understand more than how much product shipped. They need to know where products are gaining traction, where opportunities are being missed, how operators are actually buying, and what is happening between the contract, distributor, and end caustomer.  With better purchasing data and the right technology behind it, manufacturers

What if the difference between a product that stalls on shelves and one that scales nationally comes down to choosing the right food broker? Getting a product into the foodservice market takes more than making something operators want to buy. Manufacturers also have to figure out how that product will be sold, who will help get it in front of the right buyers, and how it will ultimately make its way to the operator.  That’s where the different players in the foodservice supply chain come in.  Food brokers, distributors, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), manufacturers and operators can all be part of the process, but they play very different roles. Understanding those differences matters, especially for manufacturers deciding where to invest their sales resources and how to reach more of the market.  A food broker is one option. Brokers have traditionally helped manufacturers build relationships and generate sales within specific markets.