KeHE Cares, in partnership with New Hope Network, is delivering the first-of-its-kind virtual Serving Goodness Event, which will help deliver 80,000 meals to families experiencing food scarcity due to the pandemic.

Sysco named Aaron E. Alt executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Dec. 7, 2020. Joel Grade, currently executive vice president and chief financial officer, will assume a newly created role of executive vice president, business development. In this capacity, Joel will be responsible for accelerating both organic and inorganic sales growth through new business development, including strengthening future M&A capabilities. Joel’s extensive experience in operations and finance make him uniquely qualified for this role as Sysco looks to accelerate its business transformation.

How fleet adaptability can help distributors weather e-commerce and coronavirus challenges.

Sysco announced it will eliminate minimum delivery size requirements for customers’ regularly scheduled delivery days as part of the company’s Restaurants Rising campaign. This change is effective on Nov. 16 for all U.S. Broadline, FreshPoint, Buckhead Meat and Newport Meat customers.

Editor-in-Chief Michael Costa details how COVID-19 has helped cold storage become a hot business in 2020, and conversely how the pandemic has devastated the traditional model for foodservice distribution.

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.