Clark Distributing Company

What Clark Distributing Company does

Clark Distributing Company is a family-owned wholesale distributor of plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian food products, founded in 1976 and headquartered in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The company sources from over 40 manufacturers — including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Gardein, Morningstar Farms, Just Egg, Violife, Follow Your Heart, Patagonia Frozen Fruit, and Worthington Foods — and distributes their products in both retail and foodservice pack sizes across refrigerated, dry/shelf-stable, and frozen categories. From a 20,000-square-foot facility, Clark delivers via company-owned trucks to retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes across Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Northern Alabama, Northern Georgia, and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; Northwest Ohio is explicitly excluded from the service area.

The business operates on a direct wholesale B2B model: quote-based, transaction-priced sales conducted via phone outreach (615-826-7631), website contact forms, and distributed print and digital catalogs (most recent 2026 catalog). The company maintains no proprietary technology platform, no mobile application, no public e-commerce storefront, and no disclosed digital procurement tooling; the underlying infrastructure is conventional wholesale logistics — cold-chain warehousing and trucking rather than software or data assets. Customer acquisition is sales-led and relationship-driven, emphasizing personalized service and direct communication as differentiators against larger distributors.

The revenue model is wholesale take-rate on bulk distribution. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated per inquiry. No funding rounds, institutional investors, parent company, or M&A activity are recorded; the business remains independently and family-held since founding. Headcount is in the 11–50 range, consistent with a small regional distributor. Regulatory posture includes GDPR and CCPA/CPRA compliance as documented in a privacy policy effective February 6, 2026.

Name

Clark Distributing Company

Legal name

Clark Distributing Company

Website

https://clarkdistributing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Clark Distributing Company is a family-owned wholesale distributor of plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian foods, sourcing from 40+ manufacturers and delivering refrigerated, frozen, and shelf-stable products via company-owned trucks to retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes across the Southeast US and Ontario.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Plant-Based Food Distribution

NAICS

Other Grocery and Related Products Merchant Wholesalers (42449), Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers (42442)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141), Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Frozen Plant-Based & Vegetarian Meals (CRADADAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Frozen & Refrigerated Snack Foods (Ice Cream Novelties, Snack Bites) (CRADABAL)

Keywords

• Wholesale food distribution
• Plant-based food wholesale
• Vegan product distribution
• Frozen food distribution
• Foodservice supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Hendersonville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Distribution of Plant-Based Foods: Bulk wholesale distribution of vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based food products to B2B customers including retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. Products sourced from 40+ manufacturers and delivered via company-owned trucks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Clark Distributing Company is a wholesale distributor of plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian food products, representing over 40 manufacturers and supplying retailers, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. Products span refrigerated, dry/shelf-stable, and frozen categories including meat substitutes, vegan cheese, butter, milk, eggs, mayo, dressings, sorbets, IQF fruit, snacks, and coffee alternatives, delivered in retail and foodservice sizes.

Product overview

Clark Distributing Company is a wholesale plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian food distributor operating since 1976. The company offers an extensive portfolio of bulk plant-based products across three main storage categories: refrigerated (vegan cheese, butter, milk, mayo, dressings), dry/shelf-stable (vegan meats, snacks, seasonings, coffee alternatives), and frozen (meat substitutes, IQF fruit, sorbet). They distribute products from over 40 manufacturers including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Gardein, Worthington Foods, Morningstar Farms, Just Egg, Violife, Acai Roots, Patagonia, and many others. The company serves retail stores, food service institutions, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and restaurants across Northern Alabama, Kentucky, Northern Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, operating from a 20,000-square-foot facility in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Beyond MeatcoreTechnology or IntegrationKey manufacturer partner providing plant-based meat alternatives including Beyond Burger, Beyond Beef, breakfast sausage, and chicken tenders distributed through Clark's wholesale network.
• Impossible FoodscoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor plant-based meat manufacturer offering Impossible Burger, Impossible Sausage Patties, Impossible Chicken Nuggets, and Impossible Meatballs distributed through Clark's territory.
• GardeincoreTechnology or IntegrationLeading plant-based protein brand providing meatless meatballs, beefless products, chick'n products, and fishless options for wholesale distribution.
• Worthington FoodscoreTechnology or IntegrationEstablished plant-based food manufacturer providing vegetarian meats including FriPat, Chicketts, dinner roasts, deli slices, and vegan salami products.
• Morningstar FarmscoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor plant-based food brand offering vegetarian bacon strips, chick'n nuggets, veggie dogs, sausage patties, and grillers products.
• Follow Your HeartcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlant-based food manufacturer providing vegan cheese and ranch dressing products including Violife cheese and Follow Your Heart brand items.
• Just Egg (Eat Just)coreTechnology or IntegrationPlant-based egg alternative manufacturer providing Just Egg Folded and Just Egg Liquid Frozen products for wholesale distribution.
• Vegetarian PluscoreTechnology or IntegrationAsian-inspired plant-based food manufacturer providing vegan chicken, lamb, kung pao, teriyaki, fish fillets, shrimp, and holiday seasonal products.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Misfits Market: Online direct-to-consumer distributor of organic, specialty, and plant-based foods; intersects with Clark's plant-based product portfolio but serves consumers rather than B2B accounts.
• Thrive Market: Online membership retailer of natural, organic, and plant-based products; adjacent to Clark's product range with overlapping manufacturers (Beyond Meat, Califia, etc.) but operates as a DTC retailer rather than B2B distributor.

Broad incumbents

• Performance Food Group: Large foodservice and specialty distributor competing for institutional accounts including schools, hospitals, and restaurants across the same US Southeast regions Clark serves.
• Gordon Food Service: Family-led broadline foodservice distributor with strong regional concentration in the Midwest and Southeast; competes for the same restaurant and institutional customer base.
• US Foods: Major broadline foodservice distributor with national footprint and growing specialty/plant-based category offering; overlaps with Clark's foodservice customer base.
• United Natural Foods (UNFI): Largest publicly traded natural and organic food distributor in North America; serves retailers and foodservice with a portfolio that includes the same plant-based brands Clark distributes, but at national scale.
• Sysco Corporation: Largest US broadline foodservice distributor; competes with Clark for the same restaurant, school, and hospital foodservice accounts and has been expanding plant-based portfolio.

Regional players

• Baldor Specialty Foods: Specialty food distributor serving restaurants and retailers in the Northeast US; comparable product breadth in premium and specialty categories but different geography.

Direct peers

• KeHE Distributors: Major North American specialty and natural food distributor serving retailers, restaurants, and foodservice with product assortment that includes substantial plant-based and organic categories — directly comparable business model to Clark.
• DPI Specialty Foods: Specialty and natural food distributor with similar B2B wholesale model focused on natural, organic, and plant-based categories for retailers and foodservice operators.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clark-distributing-co

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Clark Distributing Company