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Since the pandemic began, Atlas Wholesale Food Co. has distributed half a million pounds of food to those in need. | JENNIFER KOHL
A SHIFTED SYSTEM
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Detroit’s food distributors survived the pandemic by delivering food to those in need. Will new ways continue? BY NINA IGNACZAK | SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
Atlas Wholesale Food Company CEO John Kohl never expected to be operating a food assistance program. But that’s precisely what he found himself doing almost exclusively by July 2020. Since the pandemic began, Atlas has distributed half a million pounds of food to those in need through U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program and another 600,000 pounds through a Families First Marketplace program developed in partnership with Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency. Not only did the programs allow Atlas to move stranded produce through the pipeline and onto people’s plates, but they also helped build relationships that Kohl says will change the company’s focus into the future. One of those key relationships was with Wayne Metro. “They are just an absolutely outstanding agency, and I couldn’t be more proud of their team and our team and the way we reacted to this pandemic,” said Kohl. “We were trying to get high-quality food to folks in the city of Detroit and Wayne County that were in desperate need of it. Wayne Metro’s team is stunning with how they just quickly moved to action.” Consultant Erika Block assisted Kohl in developing the Families First program with the help of federal CARES Act funding. Wayne Metro wanted a more dignified approach to food distribution for families than drive-through pickup lines, and it wanted to offer them choice and high-quality food and household items. So Block helped design a platform that allowed Wayne Metro to work with approximately 3,600 clients to create online accounts, select items
and place orders for pickup at seven distribution sites around Wayne County. Delivery was also offered for clients with transportation challenges. Each client was given $200 to spend on food during two order rounds. Wayne Metro funneled approximately $1.6 million in food assistance through the program. Atlas sourced the food and helped with training Wayne Metro staff on delivery and routing. According to Block, federal pandemic assistance dollars brought food distributors and nonprofits together in new ways that created new possibilities.
“WE WERE TRYING TO GET HIGH-QUALITY FOOD TO FOLKS IN THE CITY OF DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY THAT WERE IN DESPERATE NEED OF IT. WAYNE METRO’S TEAM IS STUNNING WITH HOW THEY JUST QUICKLY MOVED TO ACTION.” — John Kohl, CEO, Atlas Wholesale Food Company
“The pandemic spurred this innovation. It opened up the food service supply chain to the food assistance world,” she said. The program offered food assistance that included fresh, high-quality food like halal chicken breast, Michigan Farm to Freezer vegetables and LaGrasso Bros. produce boxes. Director of Youth and Family Programs Carla Chinavare helped implement the program for Wayne Metro. The agency had never implemented food assistance on a large scale before the Families First Marketplace.
“What we learned with the pandemic is a lot more families came into that situation where all of a sudden they were faced with those hard choices,” she said. “And if that’s never been your situation, and now it is, having to go through that food line — that’s really something to process for you and your family. So being able to sit in the comfort of your own home, and have this online venue to pick … that just feels really good for us to be able to provide that dignified approach.” The program is now on hiatus in Wayne County as it awaits its next funding infusion. Meanwhile, Block is working with the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency to replicate it in Oakland and Livingston counties. The idea of delivering food grew out of a Hail Mary pivot on Atlas’ part in the early days of the pandemic. As Kohl’s restaurant customers were abruptly shutting down, a glut of food began accumulating in the supply chain. So Atlas began distributing food directly to consumers. It was ad-hoc at first; Atlas started allowing the public to place orders with a minimum of $100 on its website and staged drop-off sites where customers could pick up orders from the back of the truck. In doing so, Kohl found a way to get food that had been destined for restaurants into people’s hands and avoided laying off staff. That business and a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan saw the company through the initial months. Kohl then saw the federal assistance as a natural extension of the pivot the company had already taken. Atlas connected with Wayne Metro. He won a bid in the USDA farm box program’s first round and shifted nearly all of his resources to food assistance work. See DISTRIBUTION on Page 13
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Every Saturday morning, special projects editor Amy Elliott Bragg shares engaging commentary on our biggest and best stories of the week, with context on why they matter and thoughts on what to watch in the week ahead. Plus, a roundup of our most-read news, striking photos and plenty of fun facts.
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