Unlocking a 22% jump in weekly sales

The Problem: A Third-Generation Business Ready to Modernize, With No E-Commerce Infrastructure to Match

DiLandri Provisions Co. is an authorized Boar's Head brand distributor based in Scottsdale, Arizona, serving Scottsdale, North and Central Phoenix, and the Cave Creek/Carefree area. The business has been in the family since Anthony's grandfather started it back east in the 1970s. 

The product and the relationships were there. The technology wasn't.

Before Pepper, DiLandri's foodservice accounts had no way to browse the full catalog. Orders came in by phone or email, with customers calling the office or sending a PDF to a generic inbox listing the same items they always ordered. There was no mechanism for them to see what else DiLandri carried, discover a product they didn't know existed, or add something outside their usual rotation.

The result was a book of business where customers were locked into their habits. A hotel account ordering turkey and beef every week had no idea DiLandri also carried honey mustard, cheese wheels, or anything outside what they'd been buying for years. An independent restaurant that needed a new item had to call and ask, and if they didn't know to ask, the sale never happened.

For President Anthony DiLandri, building the foodservice side of the business from 30% toward a 50-50 split with chain retail meant unlocking that latent demand. Customers who already trusted DiLandri needed a way to discover how much more they could be buying from them. The old process of reordering the same items through phone calls wasn't going to get him there.

Pepper Storefront and Order Automation

Anthony connected with Pepper when looking for eCommerce and ordering infrastructure. He saw the platform and knew it was going to be a step in the right direction.

The goal was straightforward: legitimize DiLandri's digital operation and give the growing foodservice side of the business a professional digital storefront to match. Anthony wanted a platform his customers could order from, discover the full catalog on, and eventually pay through, all in one place.

He rolled it out the way he does most things: methodically. Five accounts a week, showing up in person, walking each owner or buyer through the app together, placing their first order side by side. Some resisted at first saying "great, another app", but that resistance didn't last long once they saw it.

"One of our customers, Janie's Cafe, was not an app guy," Anthony said. "His tune quickly changed. He's been using it for three weeks and says it's super easy."

Higher Sales with a Digital Operation That Sells More, Onboards Faster, and Runs Leaner

The off-order-guide numbers tell the discovery story clearly. Week over week, 19–22% of DiLandri's order volume is coming from items outside a customer's standard order guide - products they found by browsing the catalog on their own. Anthony saw it firsthand at a recent meeting with the a hotel customer in Scottsdale.

"They said, 'I thought you guys only sold turkey and beef,'" he recalled. "They're clicking — add honey mustard, add this, add that. They said, 'You have cheese wheels? We're thinking about getting rid of our charcuterie cheese supplier.'"

The "Become a Customer" inquiry feature has changed what new account onboarding looks like entirely. Prospects who find DiLandri online now submit a form, get a response in real time, browse the catalog, build their order guide, and have their account properly configured before the first delivery goes out. Three accounts went from inquiry on Tuesday to delivery by Thursday or Friday. Same week, no workarounds, no miscellaneous account placeholders.

On the order desk side, Order Agent eliminated the manual entry workflow, with orders now routing into their dedicated inbox and are immediately submitted into Xtreme once approved. For accounts using third-party PO systems like Crunchtime, they send orders directly to the dedicated DiLandri Order Agent email and the process is the same.

Anthony is still in the early stages of using the full platform, but he's tracking a 75–80% digital adoption rate by the end of May and expects that number to keep climbing as he finishes the rollout across his independent book.

"Phase one was getting everyone transitioned," he said. "Phase two is really using the tools of the app."

DiLandri Provisions Co. is a third-generation, authorized Boar's Head brand distributor based in Scottsdale, Arizona, serving foodservice, hotel, and independent accounts across Scottsdale, North and Central Phoenix, and Cave Creek/Carefree.