At this time last year, we at Refrigerated & Frozen Foods decided to put our annual Foodservice Distributor of the Year Award on hold. The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated unprecedented shutdowns in foodservice—restaurants, hotels, schools, caterers, stadiums, and other volume venues—leaving behind thousands of shuttered businesses. To put it lightly, there was very little to celebrate in foodservice last year.
However, during that time, distributor US Foods pulled the ultimate pivot—transforming on the fly into a multi-faceted business strategy source for customers confused about how to stay open with no on-premise dining, and offering vital support to operators when they may otherwise have folded in 2020.