Episode 75

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Published on:

12th Jun 2024

Building a Career in the Foodservice Brokerage Industry with Eric Martin, Chief Performance Officer of Food Sales East

In this week’s episode of the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with Eric Martin, Chief Performance Officer at Food Sales East. With an extensive career in the food service industry spanning over three decades, Eric has a wealth of experience and expertise, having navigated significant industry changes and scaled Food Sales East through pivotal expansion phases. Eric shares his strategic decisions during the industry's nationalization phase, and how Food Sales East navigated the consolidation trends of the 2010s to become a dominant regional player. Nick and Eric discuss the pivotal role of technology in modern food brokerage, particularly the adoption of Power BI for data visualization, which has revolutionized their operations and client interactions. 

Quotes

  • "Organizations rise and fall on leadership.” -Eric Martin


  • "Food Sales East wanted to prove that we could deliver results for any manufacturer, regardless of their brand. What we have to offer is our ability to produce volume for anybody." -Eric Martin



TIMESTAMPS

(03:29) Nashville's Must-Eat Spots and Favorite Food Memories

(09:27) Building a Food Brokerage Empire in the Southeast

(21:22) Navigating Industry Consolidation and Strategic Decisions in Food Brokerage

(25:03) Building a National Food Service Broker Network

(28:05) The Impact of Power BI on Food Service Brokerage



RESOURCES

Portillo Sales


CONTACT 

Nick: nick.portillo@portillosales.com

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About the Podcast

Titans of Foodservice
Nick Portillo shares with you the things he has learned on his own journey of building a successful business in the food service industry.

About your host

Profile picture for Seth "Creek" Creekmore

Seth "Creek" Creekmore

Seth Creekmore, or “Creek,” as he is known by most of his friends has been studying the Enneagram for almost 10 years now. Having completed training under Lynda Roberts & Nan Henson, he continued learning the Enneagram through a smattering of other teachers and books and eventually completed the Awareness to Action program. He was one of the original founders of the popular Fathoms | An Enneagram Podcast and now serves as the resident Millennial for the Awareness to Action Podcast. He creates Cinematic Folk music under the name Creekmore and enjoys, hiking in cold places, cooking in warm places and traveling to all the places.