Food & Beverage Distributors and Wholesalers in Pennsylvania Basics

Learn about the different food distributors in PA

If you own a restaurant or grocery store in Pennsylvania, chances are you will have to work with one or more food & beverage distributors and wholesalers in Pennsylvania. These distributors will help supply your establishment with food and drink you can sell to your customers.

If you're just starting out, you should learn some food & beverage distributors and wholesalers in Pennsylvania basics. You will likely need to work with more than one distributor to get all the wares you want to offer.

1. Look at traditional food distributors that can sell you premade foods or ingredients.

2. Look at PA beer distributors that can provide your business with alcohol and soft drinks.

3. Look at dessert distributors that can help you offer customers something sweet.

 

Check out traditional food distributors in Pennsylvania

A traditional food distributor, PA based or not, can provide most of the goods you need to stock your kitchen or your shelves. These distributors sell everything from fresh vegetables to potato chips and can deliver them when you need them. It's very important to keep an accurate inventory when using these distributors. Since they sell so many things, it's hard to tell what you need to buy without a detailed record.
Try: Consider Dutch Valley Bulk Foods if your business is in the Lancaster area and you want to buy what it calls bulk foods, which are basically foods that are "unpackaged, loose," and sold in "large numbers, amounts or volume.". You can view the entire catalog on the Web. Look at a company like Feesers if you need fresh produce and frozen foods. You should have your basic food needs covered with these two companies, or others like them.

Discover Pennsylvania beer distributors

These distributors could just as easily be called Pennsylvania beverage distributors instead. Yes, they have a lot of beer in stock, but you can also count on them for juices and soft drinks.
Try: Silver Spring Beverage in Mechanicsburg can provide you with dozens of varieties of domestic beer plus imports, microbrews and wine coolers. It also sells cigars, sodas and even snack foods. If you'd like to use a different beer distributor, PA has many more. A good way to find them is by contacting the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania.

Consider desserts when looking at food distribution PA style

When thinking of PA wholesale food don't forget dessert. While you can sometimes order desserts from broad-based food distributors, PA is home to some of the best dessert providers you can find, so it makes sense to seek them out.
Try: Pennsylvania is home to Hershey's chocolate, so it only makes sense to offer it in your establishment, either on its own or as a dessert garnish. Hershey Foods has a convenient page where you can find a chocolate distributor by zip code. If you want to offer ice cream, check out Zecca Ice Cream Distributors. It sells many popular brands, including Good Humor and Breyer's. You may also want to offer Turkey Hill ice cream, which is native to Lancaster County.

Copyright © 2011 Business.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

---