US Foods announced the launch of its Fall Scoop 2020 catalog, titled “On Point With Off-Premise – Designed To Make It.” This special edition of Scoop features 14 products designed to address trends within off-premise dining such as labor-saving products perfect for DIY meal kits, and products that will help ease diner safety and hygiene worries, including tamper-evident packaging and sanitation items.

Sysco announces the launch of Foodie Solutions, an innovative platform created to support foodservice operators in today’s rapidly changing business climate. With its broad-based perspective from supporting restaurants and other foodservice operators across the country, Sysco identified the most essential tools to help customers respond quickly to shifting business requirements and trends resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

By any measure, 2020 has been a historically difficult year for foodservice distributors. COVID-19 wiped out business for foundational customers like restaurants, hotels, caterers, stadiums, schools and other volume foodservice clients starting in March, and even today, as states attempt to re-open amid the uncertainty of where the pandemic is heading, an argument could be made that foodservice distributors have had to continuously pivot more than any other cold chain segment to stay afloat.

In the upcoming September issue of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, we highlight the pandemic pivots made by Sysco and US Foods in 2020 due to COVID-19 and its effect on foodservice clients like restaurants, hotels, caterers, stadiums, and other volume venues. While putting that story together, we also had a chance to speak to another foodservice distribution giant, Golden State Foods (GSF) and its Chairman and CEO, Mark Wetterau.

US Foods announced the launch of US Foods Ghost Kitchens, a program designed to guide restaurant operators every step of the way when opening their own operation, helping them easily add a new revenue stream. With the addition of this program, US Foods customers now have access to exclusive resources developed to streamline the process of starting a ghost kitchen, including proprietary technology to help identify menu opportunities, a detailed playbook to guide decision making, dedicated marketing support, webinars and one-on-one consultations with US Foods specialists.

Ben E. Keith Foods driver Paul Terrell was named to the 2020 International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) Truck Driver Hall of Fame. Terrell has been a driver with the broadline foodservice distributor for 25 years and is based out of the Mid-South division. There are over 130,000 foodservice distribution drivers currently on the road, but only those with the best safety records and longevity of service qualify for the IFDA Truck Driver Hall of Fame.

Schwan’s Food Service announced it has joined forces with fellow CJ CheilJedang (CJCJ) subsidiary, TMI Trading, to offer a wide array of 100-plus authentic Asian food menu solutions for foodservice operators in the United States. Together, CJCJ, Schwan’s and TMI are bringing their complementary Asian food heritages, expertise and capabilities to market as a single portfolio to drive Asian category growth for foodservice distributors and operators nationwide.

Driscoll Foods, one of the largest independent foodservice distributors in the tri-state area for nearly fifty years, has completed construction of a 3.5-megawatt DC rooftop solar photovoltaic system at its headquarters located in Wayne, New Jersey.

On our latest From the Cold Corner Podcast, I sit down with Neil Russell, VP of corporate affairs at Sysco, for details about the company’s constantly evolving strategies during the pandemic. 

Editor-in-Chief Michael Costa details how 2019's idea of cold chain disruption pales in comparison to COVID-19's seismic impact on the industry in 2020.