Progressive Gourmet develops new menu item using a two-tier approach, which involves listening to the customers and watching sourcing trends in the industry. The company sells more than 3,000 types of products.

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Sometimes a name can say it all. In the case of Progressive Gourmet, the Wilmington, Ma.-based specialty food distributor, “progressive” has been a key factor in its business plan, and not just part of its name. By thinking progressively, the company has grown its product line, its geographic reach and its revenues steadily since CEO Chris Collias founded it in 1992.

Progressive Gourmet holds a unique niche in gourmet specialty foods, but is not a broadline distributor. The company sells more than 3,000 products, and is constantly seeking out new items to give customers more options for their menus.

Collias grew up in Cape Cod, Mass., working in various positions at restaurants during the summer. At the early age of 17, he had the opportunity to start his own cleaning business for some of the same restaurants he was working in. After earning his entrepreneurial business degree from Babson College in 1987, Collias gained experience in prospecting and sales through a gig in insurance.

In 1988, he found a job in sales with a food manufacturer of hors d’œuvres, taking him back to his roots in the food and beverage industry. Collias was able to triple the company’s sales “by working hard and developing great relationships with the vendors and clients. “I realized that if you could be a great resource for chefs, they will watch out for you, as well,” he explains. “I realized I could do it on my own, so when the company I was working for started to take their eye off the ball from a quality standpoint, I made my move.”

With $5,000, the vendor connections he had from the previous job and an office on the third floor of his home, Collias started Progressive Gourmet in 1992. “I would work out of a public warehouse and do deliveries in the morning, sales in the afternoon and paperwork at night,” he says.

As business progressed, Collias says his hypothesis proved correct: “Give customers a product they can count on and business will grow,” he says.

Collias implemented several systems when he began to put together his team so that each client received the same amount of service. With about a $200,000 investment to get the basics in place, he went back to his roots as an entrepreneur and decided to create a turnkey operation in Washington, D.C., in 1994.

Over the next few years, Progressive Gourmet traded up and began leasing a larger warehouse and expanded its trade lines. Not even times of economic instability have slowed the business much. In fact, it has boosted business in some ways. “As the labor market from banquet halls and country clubs got tighter, they asked me to bring in premade desserts and breakfast pastries,” Collias notes.

By the late 1990s, Progressive Gourmet had its core line of products, which included items such as hors d’œuvre, breakfast pastries, break items, entrees and dessert items. Today, the company operates a three- to four-person sales team at each regional warehouse in New York, Philadelphia, Orlando and Las Vegas.

Providing Flexibility
Progressive Gourmet works with like-minded manufacturers where quality is of the utmost importance, and those that are willing to grow with the company. Food items are delivered to a centralized warehouse and then redistributed to the satellite markets. Progressive Gourmet owns a 25-truck fleet, which is a key selling point when working with chefs who need flexible delivery schedules.

Although the company does not sell directly to the end-user, it must take great care in listening to the chefs it works with to ensure they are pleasing the consumer’s palate. Progressive Gourmet caters, literally, to banquet and executive chefs in large hospitality venues and colleges and universities.
“There is no question that hotels have been hit hard in this market,” Collias says. “We have had to enhance our prospecting.” This has spurred new creativity at the company, since businesses are hosting smaller, more understated events and private corporate functions in unique venues, such as on a yacht or at an aquarium, Collias notes.

Progressive Gourmet develops new menu item using a two-tier approach, which involves listening to the customers and watching sourcing trends in the industry.

Going the Extra Mile
With the help of an aggressive marketing department, the company is taking a progressive approach to increasing its brand recognition in the marketplace through social networking sites and online marketing, Collias says.

Expedited, flexible delivery by service people who care is one of Progressive Gourmet’s trademarks. “I like to think that we are quicker than our competitors and that we go the extra mile,” Collias notes. “We hire people who get the service aspect of the business. We are only as good as our last delivery.”