Food distributor helps to encourage restaurant business
March 20, 2020
Amy Warren has been on both sides – supplier and restaurateur – and is trying to do her part to bolster business for restaurants forced to shut down dining rooms in response to COVID-19.
Warren opened Chef Amy’s Cafe 334 in the summer of 2008 in downtown Sioux Falls.
“In August, we had the big stock market crash, and it was terrible,” she said. “It was absolutely terrible.”
The food service industry has changed significantly since then, she said. Now, when businesses are forced to close their dining rooms, systems exist to expedite pickup and delivery.
“It’s amazing how restaurants can just do this,” she said. “Everyone has really stepped up, and our food community is ready to continue to feed everyone during this unique time, and I just want to spread the message so restaurants don’t suffer.”
Warren works as a district sales manager for Sysco, the world’s largest food distributor. Many Sioux Falls-area restaurants are among her clients.
So she’s taking to Facebook starting today, twice a day, to highlight restaurants citywide and encourage people to purchase meals.
She started at TC’s Referee Sports Bar & Grill showing meals from other restaurants, including Giliberto’s and Ruby Tuesday, and has a list of others ready to go.
“I’m taking it area by area,” she said. “There’s a huge percentage nationally of meals consumed that aren’t prepared at home, so we know that’s a need, and these restaurants are ready to go. We just need to get the word out.”
Several restaurants have started makeshift pickup windows and will leave food at a customer’s door without the need to interact with anyone, she said.
“A lot of people don’t know how to cook, and they don’t want to,” she added. “I can’t imagine having to educate and entertain my children and tend to work responsibilities. And the message is you don’t have to – we’ve got this.”
