Comment by cityofdelusion
2 years ago
It’s not limited to these big chains at all — the vast, vast majority of restaurants in the States are at the mercy of Sysco. The restaurant industry is absolutely brutal right now. They are barely profitable and the best restaurants survive from underpaid family labor or under-the-table undocumented immigrants. Rent costs are insanely high, labor isn’t there and is bottom of the barrel, and non Sysco food costs too much. The average person still expects a $8 burger and fries when the cost to make it is $10 minimum.
The whole industry is on the verge of collapse, and we’ve had a ton of restaurant closures over in my neck of the woods since Covid. These aren’t Red Lobsters closing but beloved local places.
Anyone that has worked food in the last couple years knows how bad it really is.
To be fair, Sysco can provide a lot of different levels of food. Yes, they're most associated in the public eye with the microwaved and boiled examples. But they can also deliver many fresh ingredients or just staples like rice or flour.
What are Sysco alternatives for sourcing?
US Foods (already mentioned) and Shamrock are probably the two biggest alternatives to Sysco. Maybe Roma, too. And those specialty distributors that were mentioned, if I were to guess, probably take a nice double-digit percentage of purchases that restaurants make.
Less well known is what happens in much of the baking world: pre-made mixes. Most commonly, this means a 50-pound bag of all a product's dry ingredients and only wet ingredients are necessary. These products reduce labor, simplify employee training, are more consistent, and bigger buyers can get customization.
All big bakery retailers are using these: Panera, Whole Foods, Costco, HEB supermarkets, etc. Smaller establishments and franchises also. Less obvious uses are industries with constraints that benefit from what these products offer, cruise lines maybe being the best example. While this sounds like just more ultra-processed food, many of the products are legitimately good quality. Yes, a donut is a donut, but products like breads can be fantastic quality and respectably healthful.
US Foods is probably their most direct competitor but for a lot of restaurants there are specialty distributors who have more specialized products for the type of food from seafood to steak, or Italian cheeses and cured meats, or tuna from Japan.
I believe it. It seems to be a natural consequence of the wealth imbalance in the US. There is an obscene amount of money looking to be placed at the top, but nowhere great to put it. At the bottom all of the industries that relied on disposable income are struggling. The bottom will continue to fall out piece by piece until we reach a new equilibrium.