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Foodservice: Online solutions save the day

bp foodservice feature

Baldor Specialty Foods, Inc. BB #:121770 in the Bronx, NY, a distributor of specialty produce mostly for foodservice, launched a direct-to-consumer offering at the start of pandemic shut-downs, setting up an ecommerce site and home delivery.

“I challenged the team by saying, ‘We have the best website out there in our business. What would it take to launch home delivery?’” recalls Michael Muzyk, Baldor president. “Twenty-four hours later, four days into the New York City shutdown, we had launched.

“We sold two boxes the first day, then 10, then 100,” Muzyk says. By mid-May, there were 15,000 people signed up on the website.

“And we have enough business to stay alive. The cash flow is what’s helping us survive.” Of course, not all companies had the capacity or were able to ramp up so quickly. “We had a strong website already, so we were able to pivot.”

“There’s been much more demand for online ordering,” said Brian Denton, director of brand marketing and development at PRO*ACT, LLC BB #:141746 of Monterey, CA, “so companies that were already set up for online ordering and contactless delivery have done well.”

He believes the trend will continue into the future. “It might not be at as elevated a level as during the core of the epidemic, but it will have staying power.”

This is a multi-part feature adapted from the cover story of the July/August 2020 issue of Produce Blueprints.

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