Graves Foods

What Graves Foods does

Graves Foods is a broadline wholesale food distributor founded in 1947 and headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri. The company distributes 8,500+ in-stock line items — including frozen, refrigerated, dry goods, non-food supplies, and janitorial products — with 20,000 additional items available via special order, across eight Midwestern states (Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kentucky). Operations are anchored by two distribution warehouses (Jefferson City, MO and Vinita, OK) located along major interstates, and a company-owned meat processing plant in Chillicothe, MO operating under the Mr. G's Meats brand, which enables custom-cut meat offerings and differentiated center-of-the-plate capabilities.

The company serves a diversified customer base across primary verticals of restaurants, healthcare (senior living and nursing homes), and K-12 education, with secondary verticals spanning convenience stores, hospitality, casinos, camps, catering, and fundraisers. Technology infrastructure includes a voice-pick warehouse management system for item-level food traceability, two online ordering platforms (Gold Star Online Ordering and Graves Foods Online Ordering) plus a mobile app, and sales software supporting an 8,500+ product catalog. Customer engagement combines dedicated field sales consultants, on-staff dietitians for healthcare and education, ServSafe training, industry events, and Cash & Carry walk-in warehouses for non-account purchases.

Graves Foods generates revenue primarily through transactional wholesale product sales to business accounts, supplemented by Cash & Carry walk-in sales, custom meat processing, and healthcare-specific professional services such as menu planning and PPD (price-per-day) management. Pricing is account-based and quote-driven, not publicly disclosed. Since July 2022, Graves Foods has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of GS Foods Group, Inc., a California-incorporated foodservice distribution holding company that also controls Gold Star Foods and Good Source Solutions. The company employs between 101 and 250 people and completed a 50,000 square foot cold storage warehouse expansion with 10 new loading docks in early 2023.

Name

Graves Foods

Legal name

GS Foods Group, Inc.

Website

https://gravesfoods.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Graves Foods is a Midwest broadline wholesale food distributor founded in 1947, serving restaurants, healthcare, education, and foodservice verticals across eight states with 8,500+ SKUs, owned meat processing, and Cash & Carry warehouses. Subsidiary of GS Foods Group since 2022.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Foodservice Distribution

NAICS

Meat and Meat Product Merchant Wholesalers (42447), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (3116), Poultry and Poultry Product Merchant Wholesalers (424440)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141), Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro primary industry

Foodservice Cash-and-Carry (Restaurants/Caterers) (CRAHACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Frozen Foods Wholesale (AFAIABAC), Meat, Poultry & Seafood Wholesale (AFAIABAF), Meat, Poultry & Seafood Refrigerated Warehousing (TLALABAC)

Keywords

• Wholesale food distribution
• Foodservice distribution
• Broadline distribution
• Restaurant supply
• Meat processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Jefferson City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales - Wholesale Food Distribution: Graves Foods generates revenue primarily through wholesale food distribution to businesses across multiple industries. They offer over 8,500 in-stock line items including frozen, refrigerated, dry foods, non-food supplies, and janitorial products. Customers include restaurants, healthcare facilities, schools, convenience stores, and other foodservice operations. Revenue is generated through direct account sales with regular delivery schedules.
2. Cash & Carry Walk-in Sales: Graves Foods operates Cash & Carry warehouses in Jefferson City, MO and Vinita, OK where anyone can purchase restaurant-grade, bulk-pack, or retail-pack size products at wholesale prices. This provides immediate point-of-sale revenue from walk-in customers including restaurant owners, caterers, event planners, and individual consumers.
3. Meat Processing and Custom Cutting: Graves Foods operates their own meat processing plant, providing the unique ability to customize center-of-the-plate offerings. They cut and process their own meat products, offering custom-cut meats for fundraisers and specialized customer needs through Mr. G's Meats brand.
4. Chemical and Janitorial Supplies: The company carries a full-line of commercial grade janitorial supplies and offers chemical survey services where technicians visit customer locations to create customized chemical programs. Products include cleaning chemicals, disinfecting solutions, and application equipment.
5. Healthcare Support Services: Graves Foods provides comprehensive healthcare foodservice support including menu planning, dietetic services, PPD management, inventory control tools, and nutritional guidance. Services include on-staff dietitians and consulting analysts for menu customization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Graves Foods is a Midwest broadline wholesale food distributor founded in 1947 that supplies restaurants, healthcare facilities, schools, and other foodservice operators with over 8,500 in-stock line items (frozen, refrigerated, and dry foods, non-food supplies, and janitorial products) plus 20,000 additional items available via special order. The company operates its own meat processing plant (Mr. G's Meats) for custom-cut meats, runs Cash & Carry walk-in warehouses in Jefferson City, MO and Vinita, OK, and provides value-added services such as menu development, cost analysis, on-staff dietitian support, ServSafe training, and online/web ordering platforms across eight Midwestern states.

Product overview

Graves Foods is a broadline wholesale food distribution company serving the Midwest since 1947, now part of GS Foods Group. The company offers over 8,500 in-stock line items with 20,000 additional products available, supported by their own beverage service and meat processing plant (Mr. G's Meats). Their product portfolio includes quality food (frozen, refrigerated, dry goods), non-food supplies, and janitorial/chemical supplies. Distribution services are delivered through Cash & Carry warehouses, Gold Star Online Ordering, and Graves Foods Online Ordering platforms. The company also provides specialized services including healthcare menu management, education nutrition programs, and logistics/delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mr. G's Meats: Meat company producing custom-cut steaks used for fundraiser gift boxes and retail meat products.

Products and services

• Graves Foods Online Ordering

Quantifiable outcome

• Guaranteed Planned PPD (Price Per Day) for healthcare facilities - complete monetary control with refined resident meal satisfaction
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GS Foods GroupcoreOthers · 18 July 2022GS Foods Group, a world-class foodservice distributor, acquired Graves Foods in July 2022. This acquisition solidifies Graves Foods' leading presence in the Midwest market and strengthens operations for the future. The partnership provides Graves Foods with expanded resources while maintaining their customer-focused approach. GS Foods Group owns multiple foodservice companies including Gold Star Foods and Good Source Solutions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MBM Corporation: Privately held broadline foodservice distributor serving the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Midwest, focused on independent restaurants. Comparable in business model and customer focus (independent restaurants, healthcare), though with somewhat different geographic concentration.
• Gordon Food Service: Privately held broadline foodservice distributor serving restaurants, healthcare, and schools across the Midwest, U.S., and Canada. Closest comparable peer by business model—family-influenced, broadline, multi-segment, with retail Cash & Carry store presence—and a likely private-market valuation benchmark for Graves.
• Shamrock Foods Company: Privately held broadline foodservice distributor with integrated dairy and produce manufacturing serving the Southwest and Midwest. Highly comparable to Graves Foods in family-owned character, vertical integration, and foodservice customer focus, though Shamrock operates at a larger regional scale.
• Ben E. Keith Company: Privately held broadline foodservice distributor serving the South-Central and Midwest U.S., with beverage distribution as a parallel line. Direct comparable on broadline distribution model, family-ownership culture, and regional concentration overlapping Graves Foods' footprint.

Broad incumbents

• US Foods Holding Corp: Second-largest U.S. broadline foodservice distributor serving similar institutional and restaurant customers with comparable product breadth. Direct competitor in any overlap geographies and benchmark for procurement, technology, and margin profile across the foodservice distribution value chain.
• Performance Food Group: Major U.S. foodservice and convenience distributor with Vistar and Performance Foodservice divisions. Comparable in customer mix (restaurants, healthcare, education) and in having acquired multiple regional broadliners (e.g., Reinhart Foodservice), making it a structural consolidator and direct competitive benchmark.
• Sysco Corporation: The largest broadline foodservice distributor in North America, serving restaurants, healthcare, education, and hospitality with national distribution and private-label programs. Comparable to Graves Foods in product breadth and customer verticals, but operating at vastly greater scale across all 50 states.

Regional players

• DOT Foods: Largest food industry redistributor in North America, headquartered in Illinois, serving foodservice operators and retailers with multi-category product assortment. Comparable to Graves Foods on Midwest base and broadline assortment, though DOT's redistribution model and scale materially larger.
• Cash-Wa Distributing: Family-owned broadline foodservice distributor headquartered in Nebraska serving the upper Midwest and Plains states. Operates an overlapping Midwest territory with comparable broadline model, customer verticals (restaurants, schools, healthcare), and Cash & Carry style operations.
• Fazio Cleaveland Foods: Independent broadline foodservice distributor serving the Midwest from a Cleveland, OH base, focused on restaurants, healthcare, and schools. Closely comparable to Graves Foods by regional Midwest focus, broadline assortment, and family-owned operating style.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Graves Foods