Cooking for a Community Fridge

[patti]

11 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

@patti do you have a restaurant depot near you?  Where are you buying your supplies? (not the food, the paper goods like the styrofoam containers?)

 

No restaurant depot, but a couple of restaurant supply stores. I have bought from each of those, but also found good prices on deli containers on Amazon (with careful looking), and I usually get the styrofoam three compartment and one compartment plates from Costco or Sam’s. I’ve priced things at Webstaurant, but the shipping costs don’t make sense for what I’m currently buying. I would love to know of other sources.

[YvetteMT]

4 hours ago, patti said:

 

No restaurant depot, but a couple of restaurant supply stores. I have bought from each of those, but also found good prices on deli containers on Amazon (with careful looking), and I usually get the styrofoam three compartment and one compartment plates from Costco or Sam’s. I’ve priced things at Webstaurant, but the shipping costs don’t make sense for what I’m currently buying. I would love to know of other sources.

I know my local Chefstore has containers like the ones you are using. 

[JeanneCake]

@patti, there's a restaurant depot in Baton Rouge and one in New Orleans. How far away are you from one of those locations? 

 

Do you have a Gordon Food Service cash and carry near you?

 

What kind of container is the most useful for you? Can you give me the manufacturer and/or item number ?

[JeanneCake]

Restaurantdepot.com has the 9x9 3compartment hinged styrofoam containers for .11 each, the case pack is 150 units for about $19.  

 

The church could possibly get a membership to Restaurant depot and even if its an hour away I would encourage them to get a membership.  They can buy the containers and let people (like you) use them to fill the community fridge. And possibly even get competitive pricing on bulk items like cans of beans, veggies, pasta.

 

I'm tempted to buy a case and ship them to you....

[JeanneCake]

@patti do you know Emaco Foodservice in Lafayette?   In the world of food service, there are broadliner distributors  (like Sysco, Gordon FoodService) and smaller ones that usually service a local area.  From what I can find, Emaco seems to be a smaller distributor (in terms of distance serviced) with strong ties to the community.  That company might allow for cash-and-carry sales, or they might be willing to let the church buy on behalf of those filling the fridge.

 

[patti]

18 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

Restaurantdepot.com has the 9x9 3compartment hinged styrofoam containers for .11 each, the case pack is 150 units for about $19.  

 

The church could possibly get a membership to Restaurant depot and even if its an hour away I would encourage them to get a membership.  They can buy the containers and let people (like you) use them to fill the community fridge. And possibly even get competitive pricing on bulk items like cans of beans, veggies, pasta.

 

I'm tempted to buy a case and ship them to you....

 

You are considerate, generous, and kind!

 

Although I have a contact person at the church, I’m not a member, and I while I know they set aside money in their budget for stocking their pantry, I am not privy to any other details on their buying processes. 

 

13 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

@patti do you know Emaco Foodservice in Lafayette?   In the world of food service, there are broadliner distributors  (like Sysco, Gordon FoodService) and smaller ones that usually service a local area.  From what I can find, Emaco seems to be a smaller distributor (in terms of distance serviced) with strong ties to the community.  That company might allow for cash-and-carry sales, or they might be willing to let the church buy on behalf of those filling the fridge.

 

 

While I had not heard of Emaco Foodservice, after looking them up, I have heard of the owner, Ema Haq, who is a well known restauranteur, respected for being generous to the community. One of the more visible things he does is that he opens his restaurant every year on Thanksgiving (or maybe Christmas) and dining is free for the food insecure.

 

Coincidentally, I did business with one of his restaurants many years ago in my capacity as coordinator of an educational travel program. His staff worked with me and my less than generous budget so that my group could dine in for dinner one night of their visit.

 

Thank you! Definitely worth investigating.

 

As far as my purchase price for the three compartment hinged styrofoam to go containers, it’s about 15 cents a unit from Costco and maybe 14 at Sam’s. That is what I have used most frequently in the past.