Learn About Food Service Companies

Food service companies provide food and goods to restaurants, cafeterias and organizations. National and local companies that service commercial and organizational interests may be found across the US. Several food service businesses have acquired a large portion of the market share in the food service industry. Others, particularly local, services may cater to a more niche market. Some companies that provide food services may specialize in imported foods. Others may specialize in snack foods, with their clientèle mainly consisting of pubs and bars.

In addition to food and food products, food service providers also supply restaurants and organizations with food serving plates, glassware, bar supplies, waitstaff supplies, kitchen supplies and many other items.

Many larger companies have condensed the “food service” phrase into a single word, and often incorporate the blended word into their company name. UniPro Foodservice is an example of a company who has blended the phrase to create a new word in the English vocabulary.

Food service firms usually carry particular brands of foods and goods. These companies will deliver their products to the organizations, restaurants and eateries on a predetermined schedule. In many cases, food service companies allow restaurants and organizations to maintain accounts and carry a line of credit for food products and supplies.

Some examples of Food Service Providers in the US are:

Sysco Foodservice

Sysco is a well respected and established foodservice company. In fact, Sysco is the largest foodservice company in North America. Sysco not only services several restaurants and dining establishments, this company also services sports venues, concerts and other places where entertainment may occur.

Sysco has more than 180 locations throughout North America so the company is able to deliver fresh items to their clients and keep transportation costs low. Sysco delivery trucks may be observed at any given time on many of the major highways throughout the US.

In 2012, Sysco’s customer base consists of about 400,000 clients and employs over 45,000 people in the distribution centers. This foodservice company reported over $35 billion in sales in 2010 and clearly holds the majority market share in the food service industry.

Food Service Group

The Food Service Group is actually a group of independent food brokerages that work together to supply food service clients with their products. The Food Service Group mainly supplies deli products to stores and restaurants nationwide.

Crab Broker

One of the most interesting aspects of the Crab Broker is that they utilize the Internet to take orders for seafood. Place an order online on the Crab Broker website and the order is delivered to the establishment the next day. The Crab Broker sells and ships seafood from Australia and Alaska, and their fare includes halibut, crab, salmon, orange roughy, shrimp, oysters, clams and much more.

American Roland Food Corporation

American Roland Food Corporation is a national food service provider that specializes in imported foods from all over the world. From Israeli couscous to Italian Farro, this company gathers the most unique and specialized items for specialty stores and restaurants in the US.

Lindley Food Services

Lindley Food Services specializes in servicing the school and nursing home market. This company deals with institutional foods that are purchased and prepared in bulk for larger groups of individuals. Lindley advertises that their meals are nutritional and tasty. Lindley foods comply with state and federal nutrition guidelines.

Yum Brands

Though not many people have even heard of Yum Brands, most have partaken of their fare at some point in time. Yum Brands is the company that supplies many fast food restaurants including Long John Silvers, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken, just to name a few. In addition to providing the food products packaged for the fast food market, Yum Brands also supplies these fast food restaurants with the equipment used in their kitchens and preparation areas.

US Foodservice

US Foodservice specializes in food service products for health care agencies and hospitals. In addition, US Foodservice also supplies food service products to educational institutions and restaurants.

UniPro Foodservice

UniPro provides food service products to restaurants and other fine dining establishments. Though this company is smaller than many of its competitors, UniPro Foodservice has made a reputation for itself as a provider of quality products.

Schwan’s

Schwan’s is a unique food service provider that caters to businesses as well as individual consumers. Schwan’s is a supplier of frozen dinners and prepared meals, as well as other convenience products that may be delivered to residences. Schwan’s is known for flavorful, quality fare and courteous customer service. In addition, residential and business customers may place their food orders online at the schwans.com website. Schwan’s sells meat, seafood, packaged foods, canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, pizza, pasta and snacks. Just navigate to the site and enter a zip code to make sure that Schwan’s services your location.

Schwan’s is known for high quality, flavorful dishes. This company wants to be the individual consumer’s mobile alternative to the grocery store. Great products, amazing customer service and an easy to use website make Schwan’s a leader in the individual consumer niche market.

Labatt Food Service

Labatt Food Service is an example of a regional food service provider. Labatt specializes in serving portions of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. This privately owned company maintains distribution centers in many of the larger cities in Texas and New Mexico including San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Albuquerque.

Five Star Food Services

Five Star Food Services prepares foods and desserts for vending machines and cafeterias. In addition, Five Star Food Services specializes in catered foods and products. Five Star also provides coffer service and drinks in vending machines and cafeteria settings.

Food service providers are as varied as their markets. Some larger companies, such as Sysco, dominate the market and provide a good portion of the restaurants and retail food service locations with food products and restaurant supplies. Other food service providers cater to specialized clientèle or group. Yet other providers limit their operations to a certain region or area. Food service providers are the engine that keep restaurants, institutions, fast food chains, and even vending machines in operation every day.