When the pandemic swept across the U.S., mass chaos came with it, and the restaurant food supply chain was one area that was directly implicated. For example, a truck headed eastbound from California to the restaurant network in New York City suddenly had no destination.
The weeks afterward—in late March, and then April—first saw a huge drop in demand for produce, followed by a large increase as restaurants reopened. One of the organizations that pivoted quickly was Produce Alliance, a national procurement, distribution, and produce management company that specializes in overseeing relationships between growers and operators. Founded in 1996, the organization has always taken pride in its role as an “extension of its end-user operators,” according to David Kraus, senior vice president of custom distribution, and the pandemic sprung Kraus and his colleagues into action.
“The relationships we have with restaurant operators and growers is such a key part of our DNA as a company,” Kraus says. “Our strategy during that painful time was getting to work on health of our end-user operators, putting our head down, and honoring these relationships, many of which we’ve kept up for over 20 years. The fresh produce supply chain built for foodservice isn’t suited for 75 percent drops in volume overnight, let alone 120 percent increases several days later, but we got creative, as we always do.”
First and foremost was a box program Produce Alliance put together, making sure that restaurant employees, who suddenly had no paycheck, could at least put some food on the table. Produce Alliance had an eCommerce site up and running within days, and that was a win-win, considering the produce was earmarked for restaurants that were no longer operating.
Produce Alliance also quickly moved to helping operators acclimate to the “new normal,” offering guidance on new item specifications that catered to the consumer’s evolving needs, and expertise on food safety and quality assurance protocols that were ever-changing during the pandemic. And of course, they made sure operators had ample produce to be able to continue to service their guests.
In some ways, this was a new challenge for Produce Alliance, but in other ways, it was a challenge they were familiar with after 25 years in the business.
“What separates us from any other organization is that we have relationships throughout the supply chain,” says Tyler Deutsch, senior vice president of operations. “Operators can rely on us through hard times and good times as well, to make sure their food supply chain is never broken. And we are able to execute that with full transparency and an awareness of food safety precautions that’s important now more than ever.”
The ability to pivot so quickly exhibits how Produce Alliance has stayed relevant and become a thought leader in the relatively low-tech world of produce distribution. The company is seeking to change all of that, with an increased emphasis on digital adoption and transformation when it comes to future proofing the supply chain.
“In so many ways, the produce industry has been 10 years behind many other categories within foodservice,” Kraus says. “For many years, produce was negotiated and procured locally. Brands are looking to scale nationally but still maintain the quality and integrity of a local fresh produce supplier—that’s where we come in.”
As Kraus and Deutsch assess the future of the produce supply chain, they see the industry growing up in the next 10 years, with digital initiatives, automation, and artificial intelligence—something restaurant operators have heard a lot about. All of this is going to help operators put the freshest, highest quality produce into the hands of their customers, but it’s a hurdle they will need help overcoming. Produce Alliance plans to be the company that helps them do it.
“Since 1996, we’ve been providing seamless farm-to-fork solutions,” Kraus says. “We like to say that we were doing it before it was cool.”
