Performance Food Group knows large-scale customers, whether they happen to be college campuses, healthcare systems, hotels or retirement communities. With time-tested expertise, PFG’s Performance Foodservice and Vistar divisions can cater to any variety of dining and convenience demands in large and diverse settings.
Your Foodservice and Retail Partner
With one division that focuses on restaurant-quality food and one that focuses on vending and retail, PFG has the products and resources to deliver just about any type of food, ranging from high-end dining to vending and retail. Performance Foodservice delivers full-scale, restaurant-quality dining solutions to meet the nutritional needs and tastes of a variety of customers. For example, a continuing-care and retirement center may require several options to serve its residents, including restaurant-style dining, a cafeteria, or kitchen-to-room service. Colleges and universities, meanwhile, not only require foodservice and catering, they also call for the grab-and-go convenience of a candy, snack and beverage retailer, which Vistar can provide to any type or scale of operation.
In the era of real-time technology, Vistar and Performance Foodservice understand the need for fast deliveries and convenient ordering. Both divisions enable customers to shop and order through online portals—even through a smartphone—and continue to develop new technologies and services to make foodservice operators’ lives easier.
The Leader in Candy, Snack and Beverage Distribution
Vistar's ability to bring convenience to any campus, school, hotel, retail or residential environment makes it a ready-made retail partner. Supplying a vast catalogue of more than 6,000 food and non-food goods—candy, snack, beverage, and even other necessities like beauty and personal-care items—Vistar provides high-demand products alongside niche items that satisfy consumer preferences and vary from region to region. The Vistar team also keeps pace with new-product innovation, sourcing items to meet the demand of consumers with food sensitivities as well as preferences for fresh, good-for-you snacks.
The company’s team of experts doesn't just deliver great tasting products; it helps businesses thrive with services that exceed expectations. By forming lasting relationships, Vistar grows alongside its many customers. The scope of facilities and regions Vistar can serve is vast—in addition to healthcare and higher-education settings, Vistar is the leading candy, snack and beverage provider for hospitality, theater and corporate businesses across the United States. Campus capabilities go from A-to-Z with retail distribution that caters just as seamlessly to athletic concessions as it does to student bookstores, open-air kiosks, and more. In fact, Vistar distributes to more than 2,600 retail outlets in the university and college environment.
Vistar’s distribution model pairs automated efficiency with customer demand. Twenty distribution centers throughout the country are complemented by a new retail automation center that interfaces with an e-commerce portal, allowing customers to order a wide selection of products with the click of a mouse and receive them through a quick parcel shipment.
Taken together, Vistar’s supply chain promises seamless delivery, whether for smaller retail operations or larger customers in need of nonperishable shipments in between scheduled bulk deliveries by traditional truck. "It's twofold: The model we have is not one-size-fits-all,” says Lou Johnson, Director of Campus Retail for Vistar. “We're flexible, which means we have the ability to make a delivery as small as one carton all the way up to truckload depending on the size of your location and what your needs are.”
Delivering Restaurant Quality To National Customer
When it comes to choosing the right foodservice solutions, customers can count on Performance Foodservice’s hands-on approach to address every need from the kitchen to the table. "Our sales force stays engaged," says Mark Banker, Corporate Director of Healthcare and Education Sales for Performance Foodservice. "We use our specialists, too. We have experts who can help put together a kitchen's menus and even provide recipes."
Because Performance Foodservice delivers to such a broad spectrum and scale of clients, the national accounts team keeps a keen focus on consistently high standards. "Whether it's a cafeteria in a college or a nursing home, you want the same quality that's going into the restaurant industry," Banker explains. Custom solutions are unrelenting in a commitment to two particular values: fast and fresh. For example, overnight seafood delivery is guaranteed to travel from the supplier to the customer’s freezer in an unbroken cold chain.
The commitment doesn't stop at the delivery door, however. Performance Foodservice’s 34 national locations are staffed with chefs and specialists who cover the culinary field—meats, produce, beverage and more—and can advise on the range of products available for distribution. Dietitians and nutritionists on staff also bring critical expertise for organizations with specialized health goals in mind. Among Performance Foodservice's offerings of more than 125,000 food and food-related products is an expansive catalog of equipment and supplies as well.
Food safety, of course, remains a paramount concern in the world and throughout Performance Foodservice's operations, so the company employs state-of-the-art technology to respond rapidly to food recalls that may affect the distribution chain. "Our food-safety team is huge in the segments that I deal with," Banker notes. "If there's a food recall, we've got to notify people very quickly."
We Make It Easy
Combined, these two divisions of PFG can service all the foodservice needs of large-scale operations, such as campuses, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and hotels, alongside all convenience and retail needs. We are your one-stop shop. But don’t think big means difficult to work with or stuck in old ways. "What distinguishes us from other distributors is the flexibility we have and our willingness to work with our partners," Banker says. "Really, we can service all of our customers' needs."
Want to learn more about how PFG can meet your organization's foodservice needs? Contact us today!