CPG distributors are the wholesale companies that buy packaged consumer goods from brands, hold them in regional warehouses and deliver them to grocery, natural, convenience, drug and mass retailers. The biggest channels for a new brand are grocery and natural, convenience, and foodservice, and each is served by its own set of distributors with its own requirements for getting listed.
How CPG distribution works
A packaged goods brand almost never sells to a chain store one case at a time. The store orders from a distributor, the distributor orders from the brand in pallets, and the distributor's truck brings your product to the back door with everything else ordered that week. Distributor vs wholesaler vs retailer sets out who buys from whom.
Warehouse distribution versus direct store delivery
Warehouse distribution is the default: the distributor holds your product in a regional distribution center and the retailer's system orders replenishment, so you ship pallets to a few warehouses instead of cases to hundreds of stores.
Direct store delivery, or DSD, is the model for products that turn fast or spoil fast: beverages, chips, bread and ice cream go straight to each store with a route driver who also stocks the shelf. DSD gives the brand control of the shelf but means running or renting a route network, so most small brands start with warehouses.
Where brokers fit
A broker buys and warehouses nothing; it represents your line to the retailer's buyer and the distributor's category manager, presents at line reviews and handles promotions and paperwork. Distributors like brokered brands because the broker knows their forms and deadlines. Food brokers explained covers cost and timing.
Why retailers prefer buying through a distributor
A chain carrying tens of thousands of items does not want tens of thousands of vendor relationships. One distributor means one truck at the dock, one invoice, one set of terms and one place to call when something is short, and the distributor absorbs credit risk. A buyer who likes your product will usually ask which distributor you are with first, because none means work for them.
The major US CPG distributors by channel
Which of these houses matters depends on your channel. For regional and specialty houses too, see the full US distributor list by category.
Grocery and natural
- UNFI (United Natural Foods) supplies conventional and natural grocery chains and independents nationwide.
- KeHE Distributors focuses on natural, organic, specialty and fresh products for grocery and natural retailers.
- C&S Wholesale Grocers supplies supermarket chains and independent grocers with center-store and perishable goods.
- SpartanNash distributes to independent grocers, its own stores and military commissaries, mainly in the Midwest.
- Associated Wholesale Grocers is a retailer-owned cooperative supplying independent supermarkets from regional warehouses.
- Bozzuto's serves independent grocers and chains in the Northeast.
Convenience and small-format
- McLane Company delivers grocery, candy, tobacco and foodservice items to convenience stores, drugstores and mass retailers.
- Core-Mark supplies convenience stores across the US and Canada with snacks, beverages and fresh food.
- Eby-Brown serves convenience and small-format retailers in the Midwest and the eastern states.
- H.T. Hackney distributes to convenience stores and small independents across the Southeast and Midwest.
- Imperial Trading serves convenience stores in the Gulf South and surrounding states.
- GSC Enterprises supplies convenience stores in Texas and neighboring states.
- Harold Levinson Associates serves convenience stores and independent retailers in the Northeast.
Foodservice
- Sysco supplies restaurants, hotels, healthcare and schools through a network of operating companies.
- US Foods serves independent restaurants, chains, healthcare and hospitality operators.
- Performance Food Group distributes to restaurants, schools and healthcare and also owns convenience distributors.
- Gordon Food Service is a family-owned distributor serving restaurants, schools and institutions.
- Dot Foods is a redistributor: it buys from manufacturers and sells to other distributors, so one account reaches many smaller houses.
- Vistar specializes in vending, micro markets, theaters and concessions, the route for snacks and candy into those channels.
Drug, health and beauty
- McKesson delivers pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter products, including health and beauty items, to pharmacies.
- Cardinal Health distributes pharmaceuticals and consumer health products to retail pharmacies and hospitals.
- Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen) supplies pharmacies and health systems with pharmaceuticals and consumer health products.
- SalonCentric distributes professional beauty brands to licensed salons and stylists.
- Beauty Systems Group serves salon professionals through its stores and sales consultants.
- Threshold Enterprises distributes natural supplements and personal care to health food stores and natural retailers.
- Emerson Ecologics supplies practitioner-grade supplements to healthcare practitioners and their patients.
Europa Sports Products belongs here too: it distributes sports nutrition and supplements to gyms and specialty nutrition stores.
Pet
- Phillips Pet Food & Supplies distributes pet food and supplies to independent pet stores and regional chains.
- Animal Supply Company serves independent pet retailers, veterinarians and farm stores.
- Central Garden & Pet is both a manufacturer and a distributor of pet and garden products to specialty and mass retailers.
- Pet Food Experts distributes natural and premium pet food and supplies to independent pet retailers.
Household, paper and jan-san
- Imperial Dade distributes foodservice disposables and janitorial and sanitation supplies to businesses and institutions.
- Bunzl supplies packaging, cleaning and safety products to grocery, foodservice and other businesses.
- Veritiv distributes packaging, facility supplies and print products to businesses.
- Essendant supplies office products, janitorial supplies and breakroom items to resellers and independent dealers.
What distributors require before they list you
A distributor makes money on volume moving through its warehouse, so every new-item decision comes down to one question: will this sell without us having to sell it?
Proof that the product already sells
Distributors list brands that already have retail accounts or purchase orders in hand. The strongest opening is a retailer that has agreed to carry you and asked which distributor you use; second best is independent stores with reorder history.
A broker or a sales plan
The distributor wants to know who keeps the product moving once it is in the warehouse: a broker who calls on retailers in that territory, or a written plan naming the accounts you will open, the demos you will run and the promotions you have budgeted. Leaving it to the distributor's reps gets declined.
A margin structure that works at every layer
Your wholesale price to the distributor has to leave room for the distributor margin and the retailer margin while still landing at a shelf price shoppers accept. Work backward from the shelf price you can defend, subtract the retailer's margin, then the distributor's, and see whether what remains covers your cost and a profit; distributor margin explained walks through the arithmetic. If it only works at a price nobody pays, fix the cost structure first.
Promotional and entry money
Expect to fund off-invoice discounts, chargebacks and demos for at least the first year. Many distributors and retailers also expect free fill, the first order of each item to each location at no charge, and some chains charge cash slotting on top; slotting fees explained covers who asks and how to negotiate. Budget for all of it before you sign.
Operational readiness
Settle these before the new-item form arrives:
- Case packs and pallet configuration that match what the warehouse expects
- A registered barcode on every unit and case
- Shelf life long enough to survive the warehouse and the store, with a stated minimum at delivery
- Product liability insurance at the level the distributor names, with the distributor as additional insured
- Purchase orders and invoices by EDI, or a provider who handles it for you
EDI and retail compliance explains how small brands handle the electronic side without an IT department.
How to approach a CPG distributor
Distributors open most easily when retailer pull already exists, so most of the work comes first.
Get regional accounts first. Independent stores, small chains and direct sales prove the product moves. Ask each account which distributor they buy from; when several name the same house, approach that one, with those accounts cited.
Use a broker where the channel expects one. In grocery and natural, category managers deal with brokers all day and know which ones bring products that sell; an established broker gets a line review a cold email cannot.
Meet them at the shows. Distributor teams walk Expo West for natural and specialty, Sweets and Snacks for confectionery, and NACS for convenience. Walking a show with samples, a sell sheet and meetings booked in advance costs a flight and a badge; the Expo West guide shows how to do it without exhibiting.
Submit through the new-vendor page. Every major house has a supplier page with a form and a document list. A complete submission naming existing accounts and a broker gets read; then follow up with the category manager for your product type by name.
What to do when you are too small
Most brands are too small for a national house at the start. Three paths keep you selling meanwhile.
Deliver direct. Shipping to independent stores yourself, or running a small DSD route, builds the reorder history a distributor later asks for.
Start with regional distributors. Houses serving one state or metro area have lower minimums, faster decisions and category managers you can reach by phone, and are often the ones your first accounts already use.
Use marketplaces. Faire lets independent retailers order from you with the marketplace handling terms and payment, and RangeMe puts your product in front of chain buyers and distributor category managers browsing for new items. Neither replaces a distributor, but both build the accounts one wants to see.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a distributor to sell a CPG product in the US?
Not to start. Independent stores, small chains, your own website and marketplaces such as Faire can all be sold and shipped direct. You need a distributor once a chain wants your product and will only order through its distributor, or once shipping cases to single stores costs more than the distributor margin would.
Which CPG distributor should a new food brand approach first?
The one your existing retail accounts already buy from. Ask every store that carries you which distributor delivers to them and which one they would order you through. In natural and specialty grocery the answer is usually UNFI or KeHE; in convenience, usually a regional house before McLane or Core-Mark. That distributor gives you retailer pull to cite.
How long does it take to get listed with a distributor?
Longer than most founders plan for. New-item reviews run on a calendar, often tied to the retailer's category review cycle, so a submission can wait until the next window. After approval come item setup, insurance and EDI paperwork, and a first order. Plan on a season from first contact to product in the warehouse, and keep selling direct meanwhile.
Finding the distributors for your product
Working out which houses serve your category and region, then reaching the right category manager, is slow; WholesalePilot finds the US distributors, wholesalers and retail buyers for a product from its listing and emails them in your brand's name, so the outreach runs while you build the accounts they want to see.