Food Distributors supply fresh, frozen, processed and prepared foods and those food groups can be dairy, poultry, fish, meat, produce and baked goods. Distributors can be broadline, they sell to many customers and specialists, they sell to a particular type of customer or a particular type of food. Customers can be institutions, restaurants, or grocery stores.

Logistics is the primary focus of these distributors as getting food items from producers to the various customers can be very complex. Speed and accuracy is critical. The newest technology is using RFID tags to track product movement through the supply chain.

Food and Beverage processors face numerous challenges in their day-to-day operations in today's marketplace. These challenges often present themselves in the form of rapidly changing raw material prices, USDA restrictions & difficulties, health & contamination issues, distribution & volume deficiencies, lack of product diversification and operational inefficiencies. Often these challenges are imposed from outside the operation by third parties, such as increased slotting charges and competition for shelf space.