Where Do Restaurants Get Their Food and Produce?
Most restaurants buy their food from several suppliers at once: a broadline distributor for dry goods and staples, specialty distributors for produce, meat and seafood, and wholesale markets or local farms for fresh and seasonal items. In New York City, much of the fresh produce restaurants use passes through the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx. Below is how each option works and how to choose a produce supplier for your restaurant.
Where Restaurants Buy Their Food
Broadline foodservice distributors
Broadline distributors carry thousands of items, from dry goods and frozen food to paper products, cleaning supplies and some produce, and deliver them on one truck. They suit restaurants that want a single order and a single invoice.
Specialty distributors
Specialty distributors focus on one category, such as produce, meat, seafood or dairy. Restaurants use them when freshness, variety or quality in that category matters more than the convenience of one truck. Many restaurants pair a broadline distributor with a specialty produce supplier.
Wholesale produce markets
Wholesale markets bring many produce companies together in one place. In New York City, the Hunts Point Cooperative Market in the Bronx is where wholesalers like E. Armata receive, store and sell fruit and vegetables from growers and shippers. Restaurants either open an account with a wholesaler that delivers, or pick up at the market. See visiting the Hunts Point Market before you go.
Cash-and-carry and restaurant supply stores
Warehouse stores sell in bulk without an account or delivery. Restaurants use them to fill gaps between deliveries or for small, irregular orders.
Local farms and farmers markets
Farm-to-table restaurants buy some produce directly from farms, usually for seasonal or specialty items, alongside a regular supplier for everyday volume.
Why Most Restaurants Use More Than One Supplier
No single source is best at everything. A broadline distributor is convenient for staples, while a produce specialist usually offers more variety, fresher turnover and someone who knows each item. Many kitchens order produce daily or several times a week and staples less often, so the two kinds of supplier fit together.
How to Choose a Produce Supplier for Your Restaurant
- Delivery schedule: how often they deliver to your area, and whether pickup is available when you need something fast.
- Order requirements: minimum order sizes and the cut-off time for next-day delivery.
- Food safety: certifications such as SQF and GMP, HACCP compliance, and how incoming product is inspected.
- Consistency: how the supplier checks ripeness and condition on arrival and keeps product cold until it ships.
- Payment terms: whether they offer credit terms or C.O.D., and how you pay invoices.
- Ordering: whether you can order online, through a salesperson, or both.
How Restaurants Get Consistent Produce from a Wholesaler
Consistency comes from what happens before the product reaches your kitchen. At E. Armata, every load that enters our facility is checked by our in-house quality control team, photographed on arrival and tracked by RF scanner through our racking system. Our inspectors are trained to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service inspection standards, and product is held in more than 60,000 square feet of temperature-controlled storage. The facility is SQF certified and GMP certified and holds a 100 percent superior rating under the FDA’s HACCP program. Read more about our quality control.
How Ordering Produce Wholesale Works with E. Armata
- Open an account. Complete our credit application and send it back with your references. You can request C.O.D. or 7, 14 or 21 day terms. Open a wholesale account.
- Choose delivery or pickup. Our temperature-controlled trucks deliver daily to New York City, Long Island and New Jersey, or you can pick up at our facility in the Hunts Point Market.
- Place orders. Order through our online order portal with your customer login, or directly with a member of our sales team. Order sizes and cut-off times depend on the item and your route, and your salesperson will confirm them.
E. Armata is a fourth-generation, family-run wholesaler and one of the original companies at the Hunts Point Cooperative Market. Restaurants and foodservice operators are a large part of who we supply; see our wholesale produce supplier for NYC restaurants page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do most restaurants get their food?
Most restaurants combine a broadline foodservice distributor for staples with one or more specialty distributors, such as a produce wholesaler, for fresh items. Some also buy seasonal items directly from farms.
Where do restaurants in New York City get their produce?
Much of it comes through wholesalers at the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx, either delivered to the restaurant or picked up at the market.
Can a new restaurant open a wholesale produce account?
Yes. Wholesalers like E. Armata open accounts for new businesses through a credit application, which asks for business details and trade and bank references. Call 718-991-5600 to talk it through before you apply.
