D.C. area boasts vibrant foodservice scene

The restaurant industry in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area is booming.

Last fall, Restaurant Business magazine, ranked the top-grossing independent restaurants in America and Washington, D.C., and a half a dozen made the top 100.

"It's a good time to be in the restaurant industry in D.C.," a local news outlet stated in reporting the list.

The highest-ranked one placed sixth with $28 million in 2015 sales.

"Business is good in foodservice," said Sal Cefalu, owner and director of Jessup, Md.-based CGC Holdings, the parent company of G. Cefalu & Bro. Inc., and foodservice wholesaler Capital Seaboard. "This is a good area."

Cefalu & Bro. and Capital Seaboard distributes produce to a variety of foodservice customers, including restaurants and jobbers throughout the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore region from Richmond, Va., to Philadelphia and from the Eastern Shore into western Maryland.

Cefalu said movement remains favorable.

"The restaurants appear to be full," he said. "If you look at any of the major chains, as far as their earnings, they seem to be doing OK. People have to eat, so the restaurant side in this area seems to be working very well."

Restaurants are increasing their business, said Ross Foca, chief operating officer of the Laurel, Md.-based The Coastal Cos., and president of Coastal Sunbelt Produce Co.

"The Maryland and D.C. restaurant market continues to grow," he said. "There's more restaurants opening than closing, which is a good sign.

Coastal reviews data of same-store restaurant sales.

Some are up, and some are down, but the wholesaler tends to know the reasons they're increasing or decreasing, Foca said.

The purveyors that the Jessup-based Tony Vitrano Co., sells to appear to be doing well, said Tony Vitrano, president.

"That business is going well," he said. "With the economy doing pretty good, particularly in the D.C. region and somewhat in Baltimore, the foodservice business is doing pretty well."

The restaurants Vitrano personally visits appear to be busy, he said.

Foodservice sales remain steady, said Bill Santoni, sales manager of Coosemans D.C. Inc., in Jessup.

"Business is strong and consistent," he said. "As much effort as we put into it, they are constantly asking questions. Foodservice companies have so many reps, and they sell so many different items, not just produce. They have many questions about specific items when their chefs ask them. It's an ongoing learning process to market specialties to them."

Santoni said the area's restaurants typically see lighter business during mid-week and with spring's coming, appear to be more active Wednesdays through Sundays.

Lancaster Foods Inc., Jessup, distributes to foodservice jobbers, and Jerry Chadwick, vice president of sales and marketing, characterizes foodservice sales as stable. Foodservice isn't a large business segment for his company, he says.

"As the economy has come back, there are good restaurants, and there's no shortage of customers in the major metropolitan areas," he said. "It's coming back. Obviously, all business suffered during the recession but business does seem to have come back in recent years."