US Foodservice
Foodservice Industry Overview Results from Q3 earnings reports indicate that the U.S. foodservice sector continues to be soft. While total industry sales for 2025 are projected to be up roughly 3-4% year-over-year, driven primarily by inflation and menu price increases, real growth (volume and consumer visits) is modest, with leading research firm, Technomic, suggesting real growth at flat to slightly down for the full year. Additional issues that could potentially impact the industry include tariffs and the government shutdown. To date, however, tariffs are having a minimal impact on food and beverage costs apart from coffee and imported specialty items. CMAB is in a good position to provide operators with California-produced alternatives to imported European cheeses and specialty foodservice distributors are taking advantage of our resources. CMAB foodservice continues to offer support for traffic-driving initiatives with restaurant operators and providing opportunities for California processors to grow relationships with our distributor partners. Distributor Promotions & Incentives CMAB Foodservice partners with major broadline distributors to provide national marketing and training programs. CMAB also strategically supports local Operating Companies (OpCos) in select regions in the US. Recent support includes: Sysco Italian Specialists – Top sales earners within the Italian Specialists group at Sysco were hosted in Marin and Sonoma County in late October where they visited several cheese plants. The group was also trained on using California dairy within the Italian/Pizza segment at the Culinary Institute of America. The Italian Specialists with Sysco are responsible for the movement of over 100 million lbs. of private label mozzarella produced in California. Performance Foodservice Los Angeles – CMAB was one of the sponsors of a sales incentive contest in the Los Angeles market, focusing on Alta Dena products. The contest resulted in a 7% increase in case volumes during the 14-week promotional period. Vesta Foodservice – A new regional distributor partner for CMAB, Vesta shipped 450k cases of specialty cheese in 2024. CMAB sponsored their Los Angeles food show, including underwriting eight specialty cheese processors and Alta Dena’s participation, as well as product demos and a sampling station featuring bites created to showcase the participating California processors and their award-winning cheese products. Ambassador Foods – Major distributor to the cruise line industry out of Miami, CMAB worked with CDI to support the sale of 50,000 cases of UHT half and half and heavy cream. First order was for 18 FTLs and volumes should increase in early 2026. Marketing support was provided to enhance their order guide and website to call out California milk products. Tama Trading – Family-owned Italian food distributor out of Los Angeles, Tama services over 1,000 restaurant clients across So Cal, HI, UT and NV. With CMAB’s support, DFA was able to secure 40k lbs. of California Gold Mozzarella a month, replacing a Wisconsin supplier. Funding was provided to support the merchandising for marketing flyers promoting the new California product. Restaurant Chain Promo Results CMAB Foodservice partners with regional restaurant operators on limited time offer (LTO) promotions that highlight Real California dairy and use of the Real California Milk seal.
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