One Food Distributor or Several? How to Decide

Most independent restaurants do best with one main distributor plus a second account they actually use for price checks and gaps. A single distributor is simpler to manage, but no single distributor is the cheapest on every item, and on matched items the gap between two distributors is often 10% or more.

The right split depends on how much the kitchen buys, how often deliveries come, and how much time someone can spend comparing case prices each week. The sections below walk through the trade-offs and a simple way to decide.

Why many restaurants stick with one distributor

Buying most of the order from one distributor is the common setup. A 2012 study by Campbell Surveys, sponsored by Nation's Restaurant News, found that eight in 10 foodservice operators bought more than half of their products from a single distributor, and most of them considered that relationship a better strategy than spreading purchases across several.

The reasons are practical:

• One order minimum to clear. All of the week's cases count toward a single minimum, so it is rarely a problem.
• One delivery to receive. Fewer trucks means less time at the back door checking cases against the invoice.
• One invoice and one statement. Bookkeeping and invoice checks take less time.
• One rep. A rep who sees the whole order can flag substitutions, shortages and new items.
• Volume. A larger account can carry more weight when the rep sets pricing and delivery terms.

For a small kitchen with a short order guide, those savings in time are real, and they are the main argument for keeping everything in one place.

What happens to price when you compare two distributors

The case against putting everything with one distributor is price. Each distributor sets its own case prices, item by item, and those prices move on their own schedule. A distributor that is cheaper on most of the order can still be higher on a meaningful share of items.

FareFood's own price data, for case prices refreshed September 24, 2026 to October 22, 2026, shows how often that happens. When a restaurant could buy a similar food item in the identical pack size from two broadline distributors, the distributor that was cheaper more often in that pairing still charged more on about 4 in 10 of the items compared (median across restaurants). Even in the most one-sided pairing, the usually cheaper distributor lost at least 1 in 6 comparisons. About half of those comparisons showed a gap of 10% or more between the two case prices, and the typical gap was about 12% (both medians across restaurants). These figures pool every pairing of broadline distributors and do not describe any one distributor or any one pair.

Method: FareFood's own price data for restaurants that buy from two or more broadline distributors, case prices refreshed September 24, 2026 to October 22, 2026; food items only, similar products matched in identical pack sizes; catch-weight items and pairs more than twice apart excluded; figures are medians across restaurants, and no restaurant's or distributor's prices are shown.

In practice, a kitchen that buys only from its main distributor is likely paying the higher of two prices on a real share of its order guide. On a $60 case, a 12% gap is about $7 a case. Across the items a kitchen buys every week, that adds up quickly, which is why many operators keep a second account even if they rarely use it for the full order.

What a second distributor costs you

A second account only pays off if the extra work and the extra delivery cost less than the price gaps it captures. These are the costs to count:

• A second order minimum. Each distributor sets its own minimum order, usually as a dollar amount or a case count per delivery. If the items you move to the second distributor do not clear that minimum, you either pay a fee, add items you did not need, or lose the delivery.
• Different delivery days and cutoffs. Two distributors rarely deliver on the same days or close orders at the same hour. Ordering has to fit both calendars, and receiving happens twice.
• Time to compare. Someone has to check case prices on both sides each week. Operators in a PMQ Think Tank thread on this question describe spending 20 to 30 minutes a week on a short list of high-volume items, and much longer if the comparison covers the whole order guide.
• Matching items correctly. Pack sizes, brands and yields differ. A lower case price on a smaller pack, or on a product the kitchen trims differently, may not be cheaper per serving.
• Two invoices to check. Every delivery needs its own count against the invoice and its own credit requests for shorts and damaged cases.

How to decide on one distributor or several

A simple process works for most independent kitchens:

1. List your top 30 to 50 items by spend. These usually carry most of the order. Proteins, dairy, cheese, oil and produce tend to lead the list.
2. Get case prices from a second distributor for the same weeks. Compare similar products in identical pack sizes, and convert to a cost per pound or per portion where pack sizes differ.
3. Count the items with a gap of 10% or more. Multiply each gap by the cases you buy in a typical week to get a weekly dollar figure.
4. Check the second distributor's minimum against those items. If the cheaper items alone clear the minimum on a regular delivery day, a split order is practical. If they do not, the second account may still be useful for price checks and emergencies.
5. Price your time. Compare the weekly dollar gap with the time it takes to compare, order and receive twice.
6. Repeat every month or quarter. Case prices change, so an item that was cheaper on one side last quarter can flip.

Most kitchens end up with a main distributor for the bulk of the order and a second one for a group of high-spend items where the gap is consistent. Very small kitchens that cannot clear a second minimum often stay with one distributor and use a second account only for checks.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many food distributors should a restaurant use?

Most independent restaurants use one main broadline distributor and at least one other account for specific items, price checks or emergencies. The right number depends on whether the extra items regularly clear the second distributor's order minimum.

Is it cheaper to buy everything from one distributor?

It is simpler, but it is often not cheaper on every line. No distributor has the lowest case price on every item, and gaps of 10% or more between matched case prices are common.

How often should you compare distributor prices?

Check your highest-spend items weekly or every two weeks, and review the full order guide at least once a quarter. Prices on proteins, dairy and produce move more often than dry goods.

The bottom line

Keeping one main distributor is a sound choice for most kitchens, as long as the order is checked against at least one other distributor on the items that carry the most spend. The goal is to know where the price gaps are, then decide which ones are worth a second delivery. FareFood connects the distributor accounts a restaurant already has, compares prices on every item across them, and lets the kitchen order from all of them in one cart; see how it works at fare.food.