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Gordon Food Service history
Gordon Food Service company history timeline
Gordon Food Service (GFS), founded in 1897 by Dutch immigrants to deliver butter and eggs on a horse-drawn carriage, has grown into one of North America’s largest family-owned and managed food service distributor.
1897 The beginning of Gordon Food Service
1897: Original eggs and butter delivery business is begun.
1905 Van Westenbrugge & Erb is born
1914 First motorized delivery truck
1916 Ben Gordon joins the company
In 1916 an industrious young man named Ben Gordon, a classmate of Van Westenbrugge's daughter Ruth, began working part-time for Van Westenbrugge after school and on Saturdays loading and unloading the trucks.
1917 The I. Van Westenbrugge store opens for business
1929 Company sales growth
The business grew rapidly, and in 1932 Kraft cheeses were added to the product line.
1933 Ben Gordon gains partnership
1935 First cold-storage facility
In 1935 Gordon bought into Van Westenbrugge's business, and the name was subsequently changed to Gordon-Van Cheese Company.
Ben’s brother, Frank Gordon, joins the company in 1937.
The Gordon-Van Cheese Company went out of business in 1941 when it was purchased by Kraft.
1942: Family business is reorganized and renamed by brothers Ben and Dan Gordon.
When Ben was able to rejoin Frank in the business in 1946, GFS was in full operation, servicing retail outlets in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Traverse City with a fleet of seven trucks.
1946: Gordon Food Service is incorporated.
1948 Paul Gordon joins the company
1960 Continued sales growth
By 1960 GFS was redefining its business as a food service distributor with a product line consisting mainly of frozen foods.
In 1962 GFS built a new 54,000-square-foot headquarters and warehouse in Grand Rapids.
1962: Company opens a new headquarters and warehouse in Grand Rapids.
In 1965 Paul Gordon was made president of GFS, Ben became the company's chairperson, and Frank stepped in as vice-president.
1968 Two-trailer hookup system
At the beginning of the year Paul Gordon's son, Dan (who had joined GFS in 1972), took over the presidency and Paul became the company's chairperson.
1973 Dan Gordon joins the company
Marketing mainly to restaurants, hotels, and schools in western Michigan, the company had around 4,000 steady customers by 1974 and achieved $36 million in annual food service sales that year.
In recognition of this commitment to customer service as well as its continued growth and success, GFS received the first annual 'Great Distribution Organization' award from the trade magazine Institutional Distribution in 1974.
Years of technical innovation and expansion followed for GFS. Committed to exploring newer and more efficient means of keeping records and filling orders, the company transferred much of this information onto microfiche in 1977.
1979 First "Cash & Carry" store opens
GFS began the cash-and-carry retail outlets in 1979 primarily to service the emergency needs of customers.
1980 Jim Gordon joins the company
In 1980 the company's Grand Rapids warehouse was among the first of its kind to become automated when a computerized order selection and sorting system was installed for its warehouse products.
1982 John Gordon, Jr. joins the company
1985: A second major distribution center is opened in Brighton, Michigan.
1986 Second warehouse is built
In 1987 GFS reported $530 million in sales from an estimated 10,000 active accounts.
Institutional Distribution reported in 1988 that the average GFS sales representative handled 55 accounts translating into a yearly sales figure of $2.9 million.
By 1991 nonfood products accounted for nearly 20 percent of the company's sales.
1993 North American expansion
GFS went international in 1993 when it purchased the Ontario and Quebec divisions of Maple Leaf Food Service from Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
1994 Company sales reach $1 billion
1996 Canadian distributors acquired
Early in 1998 GFS opened a major new state-of-the-art distribution facility occupying 50 acres of land in Springfield, Ohio.
With the opening of a Rockford, Illinois outlet in December 2000, the number of GFS Marketplace stores reached 77.
2001 Southern US expansion
2002 Western Canadian expansion
GFS anticipated that the Ohio center, once fully operational around 2002, would do $500-$600 million in business.
2003 Acquisitions in Florida and Canada
2004 100th GFS Marketplace Store opens
2006 Shepherdsville and Edmonton food distribution centers open
2007 Board of Directors meeting
2010 Continued growth in Florida
2011 Northeast US expansion
2014 Western US expansion
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Gordon Food Service competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glazier Foods Company | 1936 | $270.0M | 550 | 1 |
| Ettline Foods | 1889 | $22.0M | 100 | - |
| Performance Food Group | 2002 | $58.3B | 23,000 | 1,813 |
| Canteen Services | 1932 | $270.0M | 750 | 476 |
| NewYork.com | 1999 | $1.8M | 30 | 1 |
| Pepsi Bottling Ventures | 1999 | $2.2B | 3,467 | 8 |
| AVI Foodsystems | 1960 | $800.0M | 3,000 | 1,016 |
| Payless Car Rental | 1971 | $13.3M | 65 | 1 |
| Amuse Restaurant | 1978 | $395.7M | 264 | 2 |
| Concord Foods | 1968 | $9.1M | 100 | - |
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Gordon Food Service may also be known as or be related to GORDON FOOD SERVICE INC, Gordon Food Service, Gordon Food Service Inc and Gordon Food Service, Inc.