Like most business, wholesale food distribution has its own obstacles. Though they present themselves differently than traditional merchant businesses like a brick and mortar establishment, most of these challenges are rooted in the same fundamental issues of trust, communication, and convenience. Creating a profitable wholesale food distribution business with a positive reputation within the industry depends on your ability to navigate through these challenges and provide it’s customers with the best products and payment options available.

The first thing to think about as a wholesale food distribution business owner is that the vast majority of your clients will take a while to earn your their trust. Clients now days are unimpressed with stylish marketing materials and presentations, when it comes right down to actually doing business and spending money. Most people want to see value and options. This can be done in many ways. Start by getting out there and meeting the client, include information as to why they should choose you over the company down to road. Include important information like your payment options like credit card acceptance and ACH. Include information on your own in house rewards program. Let’s face it, with the economy the way it is people love rewards. From their credit card to their business vendor. Your client will do business with whom they can reap the most benefits from. Partner with other valued vendors and become a member of an association like the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) are other proven ways to build trust. Beyond that, you must be good at answering the phones and responding quickly to client inquiries. Some clients will even call just to see how quickly you respond, looking for comfort in the fact that your business is active and on top of it’s operations.

Product presentation is the second most important obstacle to overcome in the wholesale food distribution business. Provide several image views, elaborate descriptions, as well other information. Most successful wholesale food distribution companies will even have this information in detail on their website. Descriptions should be specific and as clear as possible. If you or your team is not comfortable writing attractive product descriptions, hiring a writer is well worth the expense.

The challenges of wholesale food distribution sales are easily overcome with the investment of some time and thought. Without tackling these obstacles, the probability of sales will be very low. Of course, it doesn’t stop there. There are an infinite number of improvements you should continue to make as your business grows and develops. These major obstacles are merely the roadblocks that have a tendency to shut businesses down before they even get started.