Restaurant demand fuels bustling foodservice sales

In Atlanta, the foodservice business is thriving.

Wholesalers on the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park report consistent to strong movement in the category, which includes sales to jobbers or purveyors that distribute produce to the city's many restaurants, hotels, institutions and other eateries.

"Atlanta is certainly an up-and-coming city as it relates to restaurants," said Robert Poole, director of sales for Athena Farms, Forest Park. "The trend seems to be that more are opening than closing. Sometimes you think you've reached a saturation point, but they seem to be opening new ones all the time."

Poole cited restaurants opening in the Krog Street and Ponce City markets on the city's east side.

The developments involve old warehouses and buildings that have been converted to mixed-use development, which attracts many popular eateries, he said.

In May, the Boise, Idaho-based Golbon foodservice network expanded into Atlanta by adding Bruce's Best Inc., a wholesaler on the market.

Bryan Thornton, general manager of Coosemans Atlanta Inc., noted the addition and pointed to distributors, including Riviera Beach, Fla.-based Cheney Bros. Inc. and Merchants Distributors Inc., Hickory, N.C., expanding their distribution network into Atlanta.

"There are new companies coming to Atlanta," he said. "That goes to show that there's more growth in Atlanta. They're coming here for a reason, because they know the growth is here."

Restaurant operators using newer locations tend to do better than those operating in older and aging operations, said David Collins III, president of Forest Park-based Phoenix Wholesale Foodservice Inc.

"People are starting to break ground on new facilities, which is good," he said. "There are a few soft spots in the foodservice sector. What you're seeing is a market correction going on every few years. For the most part, the restaurants we sell to are doing pretty well and some are doing great."

Collins pointed to College Park-based Chick-fil-A, headquarted in an Atlanta suburb, as one of the nation's fastest-growing fast-food operators.

The foodservice business is changing, particularly with the buying groups that make distributors pay fees to deliver product, said Andrew Scott, director of marketing and business development for the Nickey Gregory Co.

"The restaurants are becoming smarter in buying," he said. "They're knowing the f.o.b.s, the freight rates and distribution fees.

"Overall, foodservice has gotten so program-based with pricing. It has kind of taken the fun out of buying and selling produce with the contract pricing the bigger chains are using."

Otherwise, sales to foodservice purveyors remains consistent, Scott said.

The August start of school helped increase sales, he said.

Foodservice wholesaling remains consistent, said Matt Jardina, vice president of general business operations for J.J. Jardina Co. Inc., Forest Park.

"Our business with them (foodservice purveyors) over the past years has been pretty steady," he said. "They're all pretty positive around which way they're going and some of the growth they've seen. It's a hypercompetitive environment as well.

Sunbelt Produce Distributors Inc., Forest Park, sells to the jobbers.

"Some are doing really well while some say business is slow," said Cliff Sherman, owner. "It depends on the area."

For one of Sherman's foodservice customers in nearby Athens, business slows in the summer but once schools return it improves.

Foodservice sales remain strong, said Diana Earwood, vice president of Sutherland's Foodservice Inc. and general manager of Destiny Organics LLC, Forest Park.

"Restaurants and foodservice jobbers continue to show an interest and dedication to innovation and new opportunities to draw in new customers," she said.

Those operations do that by using words including healthy, local, regional, farm-to-table, sustainable and artisan, Earwood said.