Jordano's

What Jordano's does

Jordano's is a family-owned broadline foodservice distributor headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, operating continuously since 1915. The company transitioned in 1975 from a regional supermarket chain (originally established by the four sons of an Italian rancher) to wholesale food and beverage distribution under CEO Peter Jordano. Today it operates through two sister divisions: Jordano's Foodservice, which distributes food, beverage, and culinary equipment to foodservice operators, and Pacific Beverage Company, which has distributed beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages on the Central Coast since 1946. The combined enterprise employs 500+ food and beverage professionals and reports combined annual sales of more than $300 million.

Jordano's distribution platform is anchored by a 130,000-square-foot HACCP-certified, fully automated state-of-the-art warehouse carrying more than 10,000 individual items from 3,000 national, regional and local brands, with daily deliveries handled by a 60-truck climate-controlled and GPS-tracked fleet across six Central and Southern California counties (San Luis Obispo, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange County, and Los Angeles). Customer-facing technology includes the PepR (Pepper) online ordering platform for food, wine and beer, the MyChefCart-based Natural Marketplace for 30,000+ natural, organic, and specialty items, E-BILL EXPRESS electronic invoicing, a website product search tool, and downloadable Resource & Guides catalogs across 13 categories (food, beverage, equipment, pizza, school nutrition, produce, coffee/tea, dessert, etc.).

The revenue model is transaction-based product distribution with negotiated per-customer pricing and no subscription or recurring fee component; revenue is generated from product markups on national-brand goods accessed through cooperative buying-group memberships, including UniPro Foodservice (the largest U.S. foodservice distribution cooperative), Pride Centric Resources, and United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI). Jordano's acquires and retains customers primarily through an enterprise field-sales motion featuring a 50-person sales staff (four regional managers plus category specialists in produce, seafood, healthcare, gourmet coffee, chemicals, equipment & supplies, and center of the plate), supported by industry events (the Jordano's Food and Equipment Shows), an email newsletter, and a content-rich website. The customer base spans 35+ market segments including restaurants, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, wineries, government and military accounts, marine and specialty operators, and retail food operations.

Name

Jordano's

Legal name

Jordano's

Website

https://jordanos.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1915

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Jordano's is a family-owned, broadline foodservice distributor founded in 1915 and headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, serving restaurants, schools, healthcare, hospitality, and government accounts across six Central and Southern California counties via its Foodservice and Pacific Beverage Company divisions, with combined annual sales exceeding $300 million.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Foodservice Distribution

NAICS

Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers (424810)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)

akta.pro primary industry

National/Multiregional Broadline Foodservice Distributors (AFAIAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Noncommercial/Institutional Broadline Distributors (K-12, Higher Ed, Healthcare, Government) (AFAIAAAC), Institutional Foodservice Distribution (Education, Healthcare, Government) (CRAOABAM), Beverage (Non-Alcoholic) Foodservice Distribution (CRAOABAJ)

Keywords

• Foodservice distribution
• Beverage distribution
• Wholesale food supply
• Foodservice equipment
• Natural foods marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Barbara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foodservice Product Distribution: Jordano's generates revenue through the sale and distribution of food, beverages, and culinary equipment to foodservice operators. The company posts annual sales of more than $300 million across its two divisions — Jordano's Foodservice and Pacific Beverage Company. Revenue is derived from product markups on national brand goods sourced through its buying group memberships (UniPro Foodservice, Pride Centric Resources, UNFI), with no subscription or recurring fee component for customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Jordano's is an independent broadline foodservice distributor that distributes national-brand food, beverage, and culinary equipment products to foodservice operators across Central and Southern California. The company operates two divisions — Jordano's Foodservice (food and equipment distribution) and sister company Pacific Beverage Company (beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages) — stocking more than 10,000 individual items from 3,000 brands through a 130,000 sq ft HACCP-certified automated warehouse and a 60-truck GPS-tracked fleet. The company also offers commercial kitchen design services, a Natural Marketplace for natural/organic products, and category-specialized sales support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Jordano's Foodservice Distribution

Quantifiable outcome

• One of the highest levels of customer satisfaction in the foodservice industry (self-reported)

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UniPro FoodservicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJordano's is a member of UniPro Foodservice, the largest foodservice distribution cooperative in the United States. Membership provides Jordano's with $115–160 billion in buying power, enabling access to unparalleled pricing leverage and national brand relationships. This is the company's primary buying group affiliation and a core component of its competitive positioning.
• Pride Centric ResourcescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJordano's is a proud member of Pride Centric Resources, a dealer-owned equipment and smallwares buying group. Through this membership, Jordano's customers benefit from access to industry foodservice equipment and smallwares manufacturers, as well as solutions and product knowledge.
• United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJordano's partners with United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) as part of its buying group affiliations. This partnership supports Jordano's Natural Marketplace offerings of natural, organic and specialty products.
• Pacific Beverage CompanycoreOthersPacific Beverage Company is Jordano's sister company, distributing the finest beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages on the Central Coast since 1946. The two companies operate together under the same ownership, with Pacific Beverage handling the beverage distribution component while Jordano's handles foodservice. Pacific Beverage Company has its own dedicated careers portal.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Imperial Dade: Privately held foodservice and janitorial supply distributor with national footprint built through roll-ups. Increasingly competing with regional broadliners like Jordano's across multiple US markets including California.

Direct peers

• Shamrock Foods Company: Family-owned broadline foodservice and dairy distributor based in Arizona, serving the Southwest including parts of California. Closest regional independent broadline peer to Jordano's in terms of size, ownership profile, and operating model.
• Nicholas & Company: Family-owned broadline foodservice distributor serving the Mountain West. Comparable regional independent broadline competitor with similar family-ownership and multi-category focus.
• KeHE Distributors: Specialty and natural foodservice distributor serving natural product retailers and foodservice operators. Direct comparable to Jordano's Natural Marketplace division offering 30,000+ natural and organic SKUs.
• Ben E. Keith Foods: Privately held broadline foodservice distributor serving Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and parts of the Southwest, with a beer distribution arm. Highly comparable to Jordano's as a multi-category independent broadliner with beverage synergy.

Broad incumbents

• Gordon Food Service: Family-controlled broadline foodservice distributor operating across the US and Canada, with retail store concepts. Broad incumbent with a comparable independent broadline structure to Jordano's.
• US Foods: Second-largest US broadline foodservice distributor with national coverage and an extensive private-label program. Competes with Jordano's for institutional and restaurant accounts across California.
• Performance Food Group: Large broadline foodservice distributor operating Vistar and Foodservice segments, with broad national reach and a meaningful West Coast presence. Most directly comparable broadline competitor to Jordano's model.
• Sysco Corporation: Largest US broadline foodservice distributor with national scale, serving restaurants, healthcare, education and hospitality. Broad incumbent operating alongside Jordano's as the dominant national alternative.

Regional players

• Coastal Sunbelt Produce: Family-owned produce and foodservice distributor serving the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast US. Comparable regional independent distributor with similar culture and customer mix, though operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

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 Jordano's