Central New Yorkers may have seen Dot Foods trucks around the area, but always wondered: just what is Dot Foods? The Syracuse-area branch of the nation’s largest food re-distributor continues to grow, along with the rest of the company. WAER’s Scott Willis recently took a tour of their Liverpool facility to find out what they do and what makes them so successful:
The company was listed at number 85 on Forbes List of America's Largest Private Companies for 2013, the 14th consecutive year Dot Foods has been included on the list. It was founded in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, and debuted on the list at number 160 in the year 2006.
Liverpool Center General Manager Joe Little says that the company's expansions have only been positive so far, because they've made even more growth possible:
"We're a growth organization - it is part of our mission, it's part of our plan. The impact really is, as we're able to expand our product offering to our customers, it makes us more viable in other markets... the momentum generates more opportunities for us, and every time we can expand and continue that growth, it makes us more viable in other markets and more valuable to the distributors, with additional product offerings, better frequency in terms of sales and service, etcetera. The momentum generates itself, and sustains the growth."
Dot Foods made $5 billion in revenue last year, which helped it jump from its previous rank of 92 on the list in 2012. Little says he brought on 25 new employees last year, and he hopes to have 300 employs as part of the facility's next milestone.
He also wants to improve the Liverpool Distribution Center's pilot program with the U.S. military, providing goods to troops overseas in the Middle East.
Tune in for more on Dot Foods and the company's work with the armed forces starting Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. on WAER News.