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Produce has always been one of the most dynamic categories in foodservice. It is also one of the hardest to sell, source, manage, and deliver consistently.

That was the big theme behind our recent webinar, Produce Under Pressure, where I had the chance to sit down with my new friend, Brian Kane, Chief Operating Officer at PRO*ACT, along with my favorite people at Pepper, Erin Gorman and Wes Finch.

And if there was one major takeaway, it was this: 

The produce industry is not getting simpler. Distributors need stronger partners, better data, and smarter tools to protect their customers and grow their business.

Produce volatility is the new normal

Between the tail end of the Yuma season, the transition into Salinas, weather events in Florida and Mexico, pest pressure, disease pressure, reduced yields, and strong seasonal demand around spring holidays, the market has been tight across several key categories.

As Brian explained, volatility is not an occasional disruption anymore. It is part of the operating environment, and for distributors, it’s a constant balancing act: protecting customers, managing price moves, communicating availability issues, and still delivering the quality restaurants expect. It's complicated work, and it requires real resources behind it.

Strategic partnerships matter more when the market gets tight

PRO*ACT's role isn't simply buying and selling produce. It's connecting suppliers, freight providers, distributors, and end users through strategic sourcing, logistics, and category management.

The relationships that perform best in markets like this one tend to share five things:

• Paying on time, every time: It sounds basic, and it's the one most likely to be broken when cash gets tight.
• Helping move product when a partner is long: Not just calling when the market is short. The relationship runs in both directions, or it isn't really a relationship.
• Engaging across the full SKU list rather than cherry-picking: A customer who only buys the items the market favors will eventually find themselves on the outside when supply tightens.
• Honoring contract commitments when the market moves against you: Growers put product in the ground based on what was promised; the partners who follow through earn the right to be there when supply gets allocated.
• Protecting mutual profitability over time: That sometimes means accepting mix, moving a slower item, or staying engaged when the market is in the tank — not only chasing the headline FOB.

The framework translates cleanly in both directions, upstream to growers and downstream to operators. Most distributors already know intuitively which of their relationships work this way and which don't. The pattern is consistent: the partners who behave this way when markets are easy are the ones who have supply, price stability, and trust when markets aren't.

The right contract for the right customer

The menu of contract structures available to distributors is wider than it sometimes gets credit for: high-low, fixed with escalators, fixed without escalators, fixed with de-escalators, prorated, six-week averages. None of these are new, but what's worth revisiting is whether the mix on the book still fits.

The way to think about it isn't "which one's best." It's which structure fits which customer’s tolerance for risk and predictability:

• A K–12 program almost has to live on a fixed-with-escalator, as the district has to write a number into next year's budget.
• A chain restaurant doing menu engineering will usually prefer prorated or a six-week average, because its food cost has to be planned a quarter out.
• A retail merchandising account can tolerate more swing because they're already moving on price.
• A wholesale buyer often wants a known spread below the open market so they can stay competitive in their own channel.

A practical version of the question: what share of the business is on contract today, what share is on the open market, and is that ratio still serving the customer set?

Technology can help distributors act faster

The buyer-DSR-operator conversation isn't going away. What technology is doing right now is making that conversation more enforceable and more scalable.

Take getting strawberries for Mother's Day. A good DSR has always tried to get ahead of that, calling their accounts early and getting a real commitment instead of guessing on pallets. Now with technology, buyers can actually lock in a number, and the grower knows what to plan for. Same idea with a push notification that says "navel oranges are looking tight in August, white grapes are great right now."That's the seasonality heads-up a good DSR has always given their best accounts. The difference is reach: one rep managing 200 restaurants can't call each one individually.

When markets are soft, technology can help distributors move more volume, promote excess inventory, and give sales teams another channel to reach customers quickly.

Brian made a great point from his experience on the restaurant side. If a restaurant group is launching a limited-time offer across hundreds of locations, the coordination can be incredibly difficult. The distributor needs to know what to ship, when to ship it, and how much each customer needs.

With the right technology, that information does not have to live in scattered emails, phone calls, spreadsheets, and memory. It can flow through one system. That is the real opportunity: helping distributors connect customer demand, supplier availability, sales execution, and operational planning in one smarter workflow.

Data is only useful if it becomes action

One of my favorite parts of the conversation was when we got into the role of data.

The industry has always had information. The challenge has been making that information usable.

Historical purchase data, customer order patterns, promotion planning, item availability, contract commitments, and market conditions can all help a distributor make better decisions. But if your team has to spend all day digging through reports, the data becomes a burden instead of an advantage.

The goal isn't more data. It's turning data into action: telling a sales rep which customer should hear about a specific item, helping a buyer forecast demand, surfacing a substitute before a customer is shorted, or moving excess product before it becomes a problem.

The independent distributor advantage

At Pepper, we spend a lot of time talking about the strengths of independent distributors.

Independent distributors know their customers. They understand their markets. They can move quickly. They can provide the kind of service that large national competitors often struggle to match.

But the pressure is real.

Customers are watching costs. Operators are dealing with labor challenges. Supply chains are more complicated. Compliance requirements are increasing. Sales reps are being asked to do more with less time.

The good news is that independent distributors do not need to lose what makes them special in order to modernize.

They need technology that amplifies their strengths.

Better ordering. Better communication. Better visibility. Better promotions. Better data. Better customer experiences. That is the path forward.

Final thoughts

Produce will always be unpredictable. That is part of the business. But distributors can be more prepared.

They can build stronger partnerships. They can use better data. They can communicate faster. They can help customers navigate volatility instead of simply reacting to it.

The produce industry is under pressure, but there is also a major opportunity for independent distributors to become more strategic, more connected, and more valuable to their customers.

And that is exactly the kind of future Pepper and PRO*ACT are helping build.

Thanks again to Brian, Wes, and Erin. Watch the full recording for the rest of the conversation.

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