Dot Foods is the biggest food industry redistribution company in North America. We employ 6,400 people in 15 locations throughout North America. We serve over 5,000 customers across 50 states and 50 different countries. But what is a food redistribution company, and why are over 1,000 suppliers happy to partner with us?
In this article, we'll answer these questions and more. Let's start with a look at the food supply chain and the important role redistributors play.
What Is a Food Redistributor?
A food industry redistribution company buys products from suppliers, stores them in distribution centers, and delivers them to distributors, who sell them directly to retailers and foodservice businesses.
When you buy food, you visit a store, take some of the items they have in stock, and pay at the checkout. The items you buy were made by a food manufacturer, but it’s unlikely they were delivered straight from the manufacturer to the store.
Retailers, restaurants, catering companies, and the hospitality industry typically buy their products from distributors, not manufacturers. Manufacturers generally prefer to sell their products in full truckload quantities. But most places that purchase these products lack the necessity and the space for such a large amount of product. So instead, a manufacturer will sell to a distributor able to deal in less-than-truckload quantities.
This is the traditional supply chain model. Manufacturers sell to distributors, who sell to businesses that sell to you. But there are some problems with the traditional model, such as:
- Distributors may not want to buy a full truckload of a particular product. They often prefer Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) deliveries. Warehouse space is expensive and there may not be enough demand to justify tying up capital in large quantities of a product.
- Distributors may also want to place mixed orders with various products from different manufacturers. It helps keep their logistics costs down, but, as you’d expect, manufacturers don’t want to get involved in something that complex.
So, the traditional food supply chain model isn’t as efficient and cost effective as it could be. Redistributors like Dot Foods are the solution. It works like this:
- Dot buys full truckloads from manufacturers and stores them in distribution centers.
- The distributor then can place custom orders with as many or as few cases of different products as they like. They get the products they need in the quantities they can facilitate and they only have to deal with one invoice. It’s a win-win across the board.
With redistributors in the supply chain, everyone gets what they want: suppliers can sell and deliver full truckloads, and distributors can vary their order sizes to suit their available warehouse space and customer demand.
How Dot Foods Increases Supply Chain Efficiency
We’ve seen how Dot helps the retail and foodservice industries efficiently source the products they need to serve their customers.
Because of our position in the supply chain, Dot can offer additional services that further increase supply chain efficiency and reduce costs for suppliers, distributors, and their customers, including:
- Online ordering, with easy access to thousands of products
- Short delivery lead times, extending product shelf-lives and reducing waste
- Access to a wider range of products
- Reduced logistics costs through order consolidation
- More efficient use of warehouse space
Why Thousands of Suppliers and Distributors Trust Dot Foods
Our extensive distribution network, which includes 15 distribution centers strategically located across North America, allows us to buy, warehouse, and distribute a vast quantity and range of dry, refrigerated, and frozen food products.
Food manufacturers and suppliers love to work with us because we empower them to sell more products to more distributors, while reducing costs.
We distribute food products to a diverse range of customers, including distributors, food processors, and national account operators in the foodservice, retail, and industrial sectors. They buy from Dot because of our unbeatable product range, industry-beating order lead times, product integration support, and innovative approach to redistribution.
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Are you interested in working for Dot? We’re hiring right now at multiple locations.