Upper Lakes Foods
Upper Lakes Foods is a private Midwestern food and beverage distributor founded in 1967, headquartered in Cloquet, Minnesota, serving foodservice operators and grocery retailers with a workforce of 251–500 employees.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1967
- HeadquartersCloquet, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Upper Lakes Foods does
Upper Lakes Foods is a private, for-profit food and beverage distribution company headquartered in Cloquet, Minnesota, United States, in operation since 1967. Per the available firmographic record, it operates in two adjacent distribution channels — foodservice and grocery — supplying product to operators and retailers rather than direct-to-consumer. The company is sized at 251–500 employees, consistent with a mid-size independent regional distributor rather than a national broadline player. Beyond these firmographic anchors, the input source contained no substantive disclosures regarding product mix, customer segments, pricing, geographic footprint, ownership, leadership, M&A activity, or financial performance.
No technology stack, proprietary platform, digital product, or AI/ML capability is described in the source data; the company website referenced in the input rendered only a verification/loader page and provided no extractable product or platform detail. There is similarly no disclosed business model detail beyond the categorical statement that it offers foodservice and grocery products, which implies a wholesale/distribution revenue model — purchasing from manufacturers and selling to downstream operators and retailers at a margin, with revenue mechanics tied to volume throughput, route density, and product mix across fresh, frozen, dry, and grocery categories. With no pricing model, contract structure, customer logos, or segment mix disclosed, the revenue model, customer base, and competitive positioning cannot be characterized further than the categorical description.
Upper Lakes Foods firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Upper Lakes Foods
- Website
- https://upperlakesfoods.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1967
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Upper Lakes Foods is a private Midwestern food and beverage distributor founded in 1967, headquartered in Cloquet, Minnesota, serving foodservice operators and grocery retailers with a workforce of 251–500 employees.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Upper Lakes Foods industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Food Distribution
- SIC
- Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Regional/Local Broadline Foodservice Distributors (AFAIAAAB)
Keywords
Where Upper Lakes Foods is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cloquet
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Upper Lakes Foods business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure
Upper Lakes Foods product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Upper Lakes Foods distributes foodservice and grocery products to business customers. The company operates as a food and beverages distributor supplying operators and retail buyers across its regional market, founded in 1967 and headquartered in Cloquet, Minnesota.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Foodservice Products
- Grocery Products
Companies that use Upper Lakes Foods
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles2 records
Upper Lakes Foods technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Upper Lakes Foods partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves1 record
Upper Lakes Foods competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Shamrock Foods Company: Shamrock Foods is a privately held broadline foodservice distributor with both restaurant distribution and grocery operations, directly analogous to Upper Lakes Foods' dual-channel model.
- Gordon Food Service: Gordon Food Service is one of the largest privately held broadline foodservice distributors in North America, headquartered in the Midwest (Grand Rapids, MI), making it the closest private peer to Upper Lakes Foods in scale, ownership profile, and operating region.
- Reinhart Foodservice: Reinhart Foodservice is a broadline foodservice distributor serving the Upper Midwest and beyond from a Wisconsin base, making it a highly direct geographic and operational peer to Upper Lakes Foods.
- Ben E. Keith Foods: Ben E. Keith is a regional broadline foodservice distributor serving the central U.S., matching Upper Lakes Foods' regional private-distributor profile and broadline product range.
Regional players
- Pine State Trading: Pine State Trading is a regional broadline foodservice and convenience store distributor based in Maine — comparable in regional, mid-scale broadline distribution, though serving the Northeast rather than Upper Lakes Foods' Midwest territory.
- MBM (McLane Foodservice, formerly Gordon Biersch): McLane Foodservice is a regional foodservice distributor serving restaurants and convenience operators, comparable in operating model to Upper Lakes Foods though concentrated in different geographies.
Broad incumbents
- Performance Food Group: Performance Food Group operates broadline foodservice distribution at national scale alongside Vistar and Core-Mark, competing with regional distributors like Upper Lakes Foods on chain accounts and procurement scale.
- US Foods Holding Corp. US Foods is the second-largest U.S. broadline foodservice distributor and competes head-to-head for the same restaurant, healthcare, and institutional customers that Upper Lakes Foods serves in the Upper Midwest.
- Sysco Corporation: Sysco is the largest broadline foodservice distributor in North America and the most direct national analog to Upper Lakes Foods' foodservice distribution business, operating at vastly greater scale across overlapping product categories and customer types.
Others
- Sysco Imperial: Sysco Imperial Fresh is Sysco's fresh-focused specialty produce and protein distribution unit, relevant as a partial-overlap channel competitor and adjacent sourcing infrastructure against which Upper Lakes Foods competes for fresh product customers.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Upper Lakes Foods social profiles
Digital presenceUpper Lakes Foods financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Upper Lakes Foods leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Upper Lakes Foods funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Upper Lakes Foods M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Upper Lakes Foods
What does Upper Lakes Foods do?
Upper Lakes Foods distributes foodservice and grocery products to business customers. The company operates as a food and beverages distributor supplying operators and retail buyers across its regional market, founded in 1967 and headquartered in Cloquet, Minnesota.
When was Upper Lakes Foods founded?
Upper Lakes Foods was founded in 1967. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Upper Lakes Foods based?
Upper Lakes Foods is headquartered in Cloquet, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Upper Lakes Foods's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Shamrock Foods Company, Gordon Food Service, Reinhart Foodservice and Ben E. Keith Foods. Regional players are Pine State Trading and MBM (McLane Foodservice, formerly Gordon Biersch). Broad incumbents are Performance Food Group, US Foods Holding Corp. and Sysco Corporation. Sysco Imperial is listed as an others.
Does Upper Lakes Foods have an API?
No public API is recorded for Upper Lakes Foods.
What industry is Upper Lakes Foods in?
Upper Lakes Foods's product category is Food Distribution. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAIAAAB, Regional/Local Broadline Foodservice Distributors. Its SIC code is 5141.