4 parts of ghost kitchen suppliers, explained

What to take away

Every ghost kitchen supplier sits in one of four parts: the broadline route, the top-up run, the specialty maker, or the facility's own purchasing program.

Named companies fill each part, from Sysco and US Foods on the broadline truck to Ecolab on chemicals and Cintas on linen. Delivery windows and minimums are still set house by house, so score two or three candidates per part you actually use.

Part one: the broadline route

A broadline distributor puts most of the dry, frozen and refrigerated list on one truck. It is the spine of the kitchen, and the part most likely to be signed on price alone.

Sysco is the largest, based in Houston, and it delivers through regional operating companies that each set their own days and minimums. US Foods, based in Rosemont, Illinois, owns the CHEF'STORE cash-and-carry chain, which covers part two as well.

Performance Food Group of Richmond, Virginia, bought Reinhart Foodservice in 2019, so those two are one supplier now. Gordon Food Service in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is privately held and runs Gordon Food Service Store locations for will-call pickup.

Two more suit specialty-leaning lists. Shamrock Foods in Phoenix is family-owned and serves the Southwest. The Chefs' Warehouse in Ridgefield, Connecticut, trades on NASDAQ and leans on imported and center-of-the-plate items.

Score three things. The delivery window, meaning the days and hours they actually keep, not the ones on the contract. The minimum order, in value and case counts. And how substitutions are notified, because a sub discovered on the dock at 4pm is a menu item you cannot sell tonight.

Broadline minimums are set house by house. In most markets they land between roughly $250 and $500 per drop, and some houses waive the minimum for a delivery fee. Ask about the current fuel surcharge and the cutoff time for adding to an order.

None of them will tell you their window for your address until you ask, so ask before you compare price.

Part two: the top-up run

The top-up run is the cash-and-carry trip: Restaurant Depot, Costco Business Center, or a local wholesale market. No minimum, no delivery, your time and your fuel.

Restaurant Depot, run by Jetro Holdings, is free to join with a business license and resale or tax documentation, and its warehouses sell restaurant pack sizes with no minimum.

Costco Business Center carries bigger packs and offers delivery, but a membership is required: $65 for Gold Star and $130 for Executive after the September 2024 increase. Sam's Club charges $50 for Club and $110 for Plus as of 2024.

US Foods CHEF'STORE takes no membership fee and serves the public, and Gordon Food Service Store works the same way. Either one gets you a top-up run without a club card.

Local wholesale markets still count. Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx is among the largest produce terminals in the country, and Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park, Georgia, runs year-round sheds.

This part exists because par levels are wrong sometimes. It is also the honest answer for an hourly kitchen that cannot forecast a week out. The cost is not the shelf price, it is the labor hours of whoever leaves the line to drive there.

Score it on distance, opening hours against your prep schedule, and whether the items you top up are the same spec as your main route. A different pack size from the same brand is a different yield, and the portion cost moves with it.

Part three: the specialty maker

Specialty makers are single-category suppliers. Each one is a decision about whether that line defines the menu or just fills it.

A protein specialist is usually the highest-value line in the kitchen. Score cold chain on arrival, cut consistency for portioning, and how a short is communicated before the truck leaves the yard.

A bakery supplier has the opposite problem: daily items with no shelf life, so score delivery time against your first orders and what happens on holidays.

A packaging distributor supplies the container that passed your sealed-transit test, in case volumes. Score lead time on that exact item, and whether a substitute container is ever sent without notice.

For a compostable or specialty maker, ask for the documentation behind any environmental claim before you repeat it anywhere, because once it is in your listing it is your claim. Eco-Products publishes BPI certification for its compostable line.

Local farms and direct producers belong here too, for a defining ingredient. Score reliability across the season and whether the invoice is clean enough to file.

Part four: the facility's purchasing program

Many shared kitchens run their own purchasing program, and it is a real part of your supplier mix whether you use it or not. The facility orders, receives and stores, and you draw against it.

CloudKitchens leases kitchen suites in cities including Los Angeles and Chicago. Union Kitchen in Washington, DC, runs shared kitchens plus a distribution arm and its own grocery stores. CommonWealth Kitchen in Boston is a nonprofit with a shared facility.

Pilotworks closed its shared kitchens in October 2018 with almost no notice, and tenants had days to move. That is the exposure in any facility program.

Some facilities put ordering and billing through shared-kitchen software such as The Food Corridor, which rolls storage, hours and add-ons into one invoice.

Score the choice inside the program, the fees buried in the license agreement, and how a short is handled when the facility placed the order and not you. The last one matters most. When your supplier and your landlord are the same entity, a credit dispute is a lease conversation.

The scorecard

Run this on every candidate in every part. Score 1 to 5 per row from your own trial orders, at your real delivery days, before committing.

Criterion	What to check	Why it matters for delivery

Two or three trial orders per candidate, at your real delivery days, before you sign anything.

What the health authority decides here

Receiving temperatures, approved sources, labeling on incoming goods and storage rules come from your inspecting authority, not from this page. The FDA model Food Code is the reference many authorities adapt.

The FDA's directory of state retail food codes and agencies finds yours. Ask whether any part above carries an approved-source requirement in your jurisdiction; the licensing and compliance guide covers the rest of that conversation.

Where the four parts meet the plan

Common questions

Which broadline distributor is best?

The one whose truck arrives in your prep window, in your city, with the fewest unannounced substitutions on your trial orders. Sysco, US Foods and Performance Food Group all run regional houses with different windows and minimums, so the national name tells you little.

How many suppliers should a small kitchen have?

Two or three routes, one per part you use heavily, plus a cash-and-carry for top-ups. More than that and receiving becomes a job.

Should I sign a long supply contract for a discount?

Not before two or three trial orders have scored the delivery window and the substitution policy. A discount on a truck that arrives at peak is a loss.

What about packaging with environmental claims?

Ask the maker for the documentation behind the claim before you repeat it anywhere, because once it is in your listing it is your claim.