CHICAGO _ Eugene Lam, vice president of Chicago Oriental Wholesale Market, watched COVID-19 shutdowns deflate demand from his biggest customers: restaurants, airlines, casinos.
But orders at the food service distributor founded by his parents 27 years ago perked up in other areas.
Supermarkets, normally 20% of his business, became 40% as their orders doubled and shifted to include more shelf-stable products and cleaning supplies. Restaurants offering carryout, particularly in the medical district, became a focus. The company, based in an industrial zone between Pilsen and Chinatown, struggled to keep up with demand for to-go containers.
And there was a whole new audience in consumers holed up at home, reluctant to frequent grocery stores and struggling to book busy grocery delivery services.
Lam had the food, but had to figure out how to get it to them.
He found a partner in Choco, an ingredient sourcing and delivery app for the restaurant industry, which in mid-April launched a program to help farmers, fisherman, butchers and wholesalers with excess products sell directly to consumers.
Choco, headquartered in New York and Berlin, launched e-commerce sites in 17 markets featuring products from local vendors and offered next-day delivery to people's homes. The Chicago Choco site features a varied selection of produce and other products, including three types of bok choy, udon noodles, tofu, shrimp and garbage bags.
Teaming up with Choco helped Lam, who didn't want to send his large trucks or his drivers to people's residences. He also appreciated Choco's commitment to donate 100% of profits to regional funds helping restaurants survive the COVID-19 business closures.
"That was really intriguing for us when the majority of our business is food service," said Lam, 30. His company, which employs about 50 people, saw restaurant order volume fall to a third of normal levels, and several small business owners told him they planned to call it quits.
Sending food to consumers, rather than restaurants, meant doing a lot of repacking, as most people don't want to receive a 70-count pack of chicken, Lam said. He is now selling 15-pound bags of rice instead of 150 pounds.
Looking ahead, Lam expects to rely less on dine-in restaurants and focus on growing takeout, home delivery and supermarket customers. He also expects virtual restaurants _ concepts created solely for delivery and carryout _ to become increasingly important customers.
Lam is confident Chicago Oriental Wholesale Market, which originally focused on serving Asian restaurants but in recent years developed mainstream accounts, will survive because it knows how to adapt.
"We are just trying to continue shifting our offering to where the demand is," he said. "Being agile in this climate is very crucial."
