Florida Food Service Feeds GNV during crisis

Florida Food Service, Inc. has partnered with the FEED GNV program to donate food and supplies to participating Restaurants, helping to alleviate up-front financial burdens and provide much needed support. FEED GNV is a pilot program in which the City of Gainesville has partnered with the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and local restaurants to provide grab-and-go meals to community members in need.

As a family-owned business who has served the Greater Gainesville community and North Central Florida for more than 70 years, they understand the great impact that the COVID-19 Pandemic has made on restaurants, food service, and caterers. Florida Food Service initially saw a 50% drop in sales and orders as customers began to close their doors even temporarily and the demand for goods plummeted nearly overnight. Since they keep a responsible inventory on hand for customers, Florida Food Service was already stocked with many perishable items that could have potentially gone to waste.

So when President Joel Islam received a Chamber email with information about the FEED GNV program, he immediately reached out with an offer to help.

“I sent an email to Eric Godet, and he responded immediately.  I can’t thank our Chamber staff enough for the dedication and leadership they have shown through this entire pandemic.  Ian Fletcher at the Chamber quickly made a connection to FEED GNV and some donations started moving through the network of restaurants in the program.”

Although customer orders initially dropped significantly, Islam says he has seen that number improve little by little each week as restaurants have quickly adapted to a new way of doing business and serving customers.

“We are constantly amazed at the ingenuity in this community.” says Islam.