In this week’s episode of the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with Eric Martin, Chief Performance Officer at Food Sales East. With an extensive career in the food service industry spanning over three decades, Eric has a wealth of experience and expertise, having navigated significant industry changes and scaled Food Sales East through pivotal expansion phases. Eric shares his strategic decisions during the industry's nationalization phase, and how Food Sales East navigated the consolidation trends of the 2010s to become a dominant regional player. Nick and Eric discuss the pivotal role of technology in modern food brokerage, particularly the adoption of Power BI for data visualization, which has revolutionized their operations and client interactions. 

Quotes

• "Organizations rise and fall on leadership.” -Eric Martin

• "Food Sales East wanted to prove that we could deliver results for any manufacturer, regardless of their brand. What we have to offer is our ability to produce volume for anybody." -Eric Martin

TIMESTAMPS

(03:29) Nashville's Must-Eat Spots and Favorite Food Memories

(09:27) Building a Food Brokerage Empire in the Southeast

(21:22) Navigating Industry Consolidation and Strategic Decisions in Food Brokerage

(25:03) Building a National Food Service Broker Network

(28:05) The Impact of Power BI on Food Service Brokerage

RESOURCES

Portillo Sales

CONTACT 

Nick: nick.portillo@portillosales.com