Supermarket stock everything, including wholesale feta cheese. Delis also stock a good selection of food products but are generally more specialist or more upmarket than a supermarket. What you don’t know is that they probably both use the same food wholesaler to get their products. Food wholesalers keep an enormous amount of products. They make, they manufacture, they grow and they outsource. They import and they get local. They stock everything in bulk which means they supply everyone in bulk. That is their job. And they often supply the same supermarkets near one another, or the same delis, sometimes the same products and sometimes specialist products.
Supermarkets need to stand out
A deli needs to stand out and will always stock specialist products as well as the ordinary. A supermarket needs to stand out in that they need to stock a good selection of everything. They will stock local cheese and imported cheese, four or five different kinds of feta, frozen foods and fresh. They get their wholesale food supplies from the same place as everyone else, but they will have something, a few things, that they become known for. And provided their food is always good quality and good prices, they are always going to have the business. And the same goes with a deli. They will always sell products that make them stand out. A shopper might go to the supermarket for all their frozen and tinned foods, cereals and pizza, but they would go to the deli for fresh deli produce and Italian pasta!
Relationship with a wholesale food supplier
It is very important for the supermarkets or delis, and this could be restaurants, hotels and airlines too, to build up a good relationship with their food wholesaler. They need to work out delivery conditions, credit terms and stock. Stock is probably the most important one to work out. A supermarket cannot have empty shelves. A deli needs to have fresh food and special treats. A restaurant cannot say ‘Oops Sorry, no salad today’. They need to work with wholesale food suppliers that they can trust and who always deliver on time. They also need to ensure that whatever it is they are known for, perhaps the deli sells 20 different kinds of fresh olives, that the supermarket stocks and sells slightly different or fewer types of olives. It’s a fine line in business but it needs to be a loyal one, between wholesale food supplier and supermarket/deli/restaurant/hotel.
Finding the right wholesale food supplier
Wholesale food business is a huge market with some very big wholesalers who have really cornered the market. Choose to work with a big supplier, one who is extremely experienced, offers excellent service, offers excellent prices, values your business and has a large variety of stock. Work with one in your city and when you need anything including wholesale feta cheese, know that they will drop everything to get you your wholesale feta!
