Choosing the right food and beverage distributors and wholesalers in West Virginia is essential for convenience and grocery store owners. Buying food wholesale in West Virginia is a highly competitive business with high customer expectations and complex factors that affect product replenishment.

Food distributors in WV must allow you to implement proper inventory management. This is especially important in maintaining profitability on low-margin items where knowledge of customer buying patterns is critical when choosing food distributors. West Virginia food and beverage distribution can be further complicated by promotions, seasonal availability and the large differences between wholesale and resale purchase units.

When selecting one of the food and beverage distributors and wholesalers in West Virginia, choose one that will increase your bottom line by allowing you to do the following:

1. Maintain your stock levels to prevent lost sales by minimizing the impact of excessive shrinkage and expiration. Reliable delivery, therefore, is crucial for determining the optimum order quantity and re-order point.

2. Save on shipping costs through advance replenishment, order consolidation and optimized price breaks. This will help you plan promotions and other sales-related events.

3. Increase customer retention and service levels.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy food and beverage wholesale in West Virginia from major distributors

Some food and beverage wholesalers cover most of the country and usually cater to grocery store chains. However, they also may be able to deliver to regional franchises and independent stores.

I recommend: Nash Finch is a leading wholesale food distributor in the United States. It has a clickable map of food distribution centers. US Foodservice provides food and related products primarily to restaurants. You can select a region of the United States on its website to display specific locations within that region.

Purchase from a regional food distributor in West Virginia

Regional suppliers usually serve smaller businesses in second-tier markets. They may also distribute gourmet and other specialty food items.

I recommend: Tomanetti’s Pizza distributes pizza-related food products in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Merchants Grocery Company is a full-line food distributor for accounts in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Select a local beverage distributor in West Virginia

Local distributors can provide more personalized service to smaller convenience and grocery store owners. This additional time and attention can create a business relationship not found with larger distributors.

I recommend: Capitol Beverage Company is the largest distributor of Miller Brewing Company products in West Virginia. Carenbauer Distributing is based in Wheeling and is a distributor for Anheuser-Busch products in West Virginia.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Identify any particular buying habits of your customers. For example, if your store caters to a particular ethnic group, you will want to use West Virginia food distributors that specialize in foods from that ethnic group. Many wholesalers also specialize in a particular type of food such as ice cream, cookies or chips.