BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Dot Foods

BY REGINA DONATO

How did that hamburger end up on your plate? When sitting down to eat, it is easy to forget about the distribution process involved behind the scenes. However, the typical supply chain model is not always effective. Buying large quantities of product from multiple distributors is unrealistic and uneconomical for businesses across the United States. This is where foodservice redistribution becomes a great tool for better business practices.

Food redistribution is the process of storing large quantities of food in single warehouses to minimize the number of shipments a business owner must request. According to Joe Little, general manager of the Bear, Delaware Dot Foods distribution center, redistribution “allows a customer to maximize the products available to them with a lower inventory cost or less investment. Business owners can get products on a regular delivery schedule, and it saves a lot of time, energy, and money.” While large corporations can absolutely benefit from this practice, small businesses can especially take advantage.

Dot Foods knows exactly what it is like to start small. Originally founded in 1960 by the Tracy family, Dot started as a small dairy company in the Midwest. Still owned by the same family, Dot has since expanded to become the largest foodservice redistribution company in the United States, with 15 locations across North America. Their newest distribution center is located in Bear, Delaware, which opened in March 2020 – just days before the official start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But why the First State for a new location? The process of choosing a new distribution center is a complicated one, explained Little. He himself has worked at five of Dot’s locations over his career with the company, himself helping to launch the Burley, Idaho and Bear locations.

“Delaware is in a prime location to help us control costs in terms of products that we buy. There are a lot of food products that are produced in the area, taking costs out of the system.” The state is a supplier of many agricultural goods, including chicken, soybeans, and dairy products. These local products are then shipped out to their other warehouses to properly cater to customer needs.

Despite opening mere days before the pandemic, Dot was steadily hiring in Delaware throughout 2020 and 2021. With 175 current full-time employees, the Bear location hopes to boast 200 employees by next year. Little was especially appreciative of all his core hardworking employees who “rode out the storm” of the last year and a half with them.

Despite being an official part of the Delaware community for less than two years, Dot Foods has already made a huge impact within the community. In their Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program, each location donates $30,000 in food to local food pantries, and the charitable contributions committee at each facility is solely dedicated to finding and donating to local charities.

“The outreach, support, and cooperation from the state of Delaware during the last 16 months has just been outstanding. It will do nothing but help us to funnel and fuel more growth for our company in the years to come,” Little emphasized. While many hurdles have been jumped to get to this point, the future of Dot Foods and the Delaware business community looks bright.