Food distribution connects farms, processors, warehouses, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and households. The statistics below describe U.S. value shares and spending, company-reported distribution networks, temperature-controlled capacity, and global food-loss and waste estimates, with measurement periods and scope stated for each figure.
Key Food Distribution Statistics
The most useful headline figures include:
- In 2023, wholesale trade received 11.4 cents of each U.S. domestic food dollar.
- In 2023, retail trade received 14.7 cents of each U.S. domestic food dollar.
- In 2023, wholesale and retail together accounted for 26.1 cents per U.S. domestic food dollar.
- From 1993 through 2023, wholesale trade averaged 10.6 cents per U.S. domestic food dollar.
- From 1993 through 2023, retail trade averaged 13.9 cents per U.S. domestic food dollar.
- In 2022, farm establishments received 14.9 cents of each U.S. domestic food dollar.
- From 2017 through 2023, U.S. consumers spent an average $1.73 trillion annually on domestically produced food.
- From 2017 through 2023, food processors added an average $291 billion of value annually in the U.S. domestic food supply chain.
- In 2023, total U.S. food spending reached $2.57 trillion.
- In 2023, U.S. food spending was $7,672 per person.
- In 2023, food away from home represented 58.5% of U.S. food spending.
- In fiscal 2024, US Foods served approximately 250,000 customer locations in the United States.
- In fiscal 2024, Performance Food Group reported $58.3 billion in net sales.
- At December 31, 2024, Americold reported approximately 1.4 billion cubic feet of capacity globally.
- At December 31, 2024, Lineage operated approximately 3.1 billion cubic feet of temperature-controlled capacity globally.
- At December 31, 2024, Lineage operated 488 warehouses globally.
- In the global estimate cited by FAO, 13.2% of food was lost after harvest and before retail.
- In the 2024 UNEP statistics cited by FAO, a further 19% of food was wasted at retail, food-service and household levels.
Contents
- Food distribution statistics and the U.S. food dollar
- Food distribution costs and supply-chain value
- Food distribution demand and spending trends
- Foodservice distributor sales and delivery networks
- Cold-storage distribution scale and capacity
- Food distribution losses, waste and outcomes
- Food distribution benchmarks by customer channel
Food Distribution Statistics and the U.S. Food Dollar
USDA Food Dollar estimates measure value shares of domestically produced food, not physical tonnage or the complete imported-food market. In the 2023 industry-group estimate, wholesale and retail establishments together received 26.1 cents of each domestic food dollar.
| Industry group | Share of 2023 domestic food dollar | Measurement scope |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale trade | 11.4 cents | United States; estimate |
| Retail trade | 14.7 cents | United States; estimate |
| Wholesale plus retail | 26.1 cents | United States; reported combined share |
Source: USDA ERS, “More than one quarter of U.S. food dollar was paid to wholesale and retail trade establishments in 2023”. The combined figure covers wholesale and retail establishments, not every distribution activity.
The 2023 shares were slightly below the preceding year: wholesale fell 0.1 cent and retail fell 0.3 cent from 2022 to 2023. These are nominal Food Dollar series comparisons, expressed as changes in cents per dollar.
The longer series provides context without turning an average into a single-year observation. Wholesale trade averaged 10.6 cents per domestic food dollar from 1993 through 2023, while retail trade averaged 13.9 cents over the same period.
A separate USDA marketing-bill measure reported that farm establishments received 14.9 cents of each 2022 domestic food dollar, leaving a marketing share of 85.1 cents for post-farm activities such as processing, transport and selling. The farm share is a gross-return measure linked to consumer food spending.
Food Distribution Costs and Supply-Chain Value
USDA’s revised Food Dollar 2.0 accounting gives a broader view of the money moving through the domestic supply chain. From 2017 through 2023, U.S. consumers spent an average $1.73 trillion annually on domestically produced food, including an average $780 billion annually on food at home.
| Supply-chain measure | Annual average, 2017–2023 | Geography and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic food spending | $1.73 trillion | United States; domestically produced food |
| Food at home expenditure | $780 billion | United States; groceries and comparable home-preparation purchases |
| Farm commodities | $230 billion | United States; average annual commodity value |
| Food-processing value added | $291 billion | United States; average annual value added |
Source: USDA ERS, “A More Detailed Food Dollar: Enhanced Accounting of U.S. Food Costs”. The estimates use USDA’s revised Food Dollar 2.0 definitions and cover domestically produced food.
Farm establishments produced an average $230 billion in farm commodities annually during the period, while food processors added an average $291 billion of value. These measures describe supply-chain value, not a direct total of distribution-company revenue.
The 2022 industry-group bill also separates farm-related inputs. Farm production itself represented 7.9 cents per food dollar, agribusiness inputs represented 2.1 cents, and other farm-related costs represented 4.9 cents.
Other farm-related costs include nonagricultural industries supplying farms, such as energy and transportation. Across 1993 through 2022, that category ranged from 4.6 to 6.3 cents per food dollar.
Food Distribution Demand and Spending Trends
Total U.S. food spending reached $2.57 trillion in 2023, or $7,672 per person. The total includes consumer, business and government food spending, so the per-capita series is broader than household grocery purchases alone.
| 2023 U.S. measure | Result | Change or share |
|---|---|---|
| Total food spending | $2.57 trillion | Nominal total |
| Food spending per person | $7,672 | Up 7.5% from 2022 |
| Food away from home per person | $4,485 | Up 12.0% |
| Food at home per person | $3,187 | Up 1.8% |
| Food away from home share | 58.5% | Share of nominal food spending |
| Food at home share | 41.5% | Share of nominal food spending |
Source: USDA ERS, “U.S. Consumers Increased Spending on Food Away From Home in 2023, Driving Overall Food Spending Growth”. The reported changes are nominal, not inflation-adjusted, and spending shares are not physical food-volume shares.
Food away from home reached $4,485 per person in 2023 and rose 12.0%, compared with $3,187 per person for food at home and a 1.8% increase. The distribution implication is channel mix: restaurants and other prepared-food purchases represented more spending than food intended for home preparation, measured in nominal dollars.
Foodservice Distributor Sales and Delivery Networks
Large foodservice distributors show how distribution scale is organized around facilities, vehicles, sales teams and customer locations. Their reported figures are company measures, not market totals, and their fiscal years differ.
Sysco reported that U.S. Foodservice Operations represented approximately 70.2% of overall sales in fiscal 2024, while International Foodservice Operations represented approximately 18.5%. Its U.S. Foodservice case volume increased 0.7% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 versus the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023; the case-volume definition excludes specialty-meat pounds.
US Foods reported approximately 250,000 customer locations and approximately 4,000 sales associates in fiscal 2024. It operated more than 70 distribution facilities, more than 6,500 trucks and more than 90 cash-and-carry locations in the United States.
PFG reported $58.3 billion in fiscal-2024 net sales. Its total case volume grew 1.6%, organic independent-foodservice case volume increased 6.0%, and its Foodservice segment operated 78 distribution centers.
PFG said broad-line customers were generally located no more than 200 miles from a distribution facility. That is a typical service-radius description, not a universal route limit.
Sources: Sysco Corporation 2024 Form 10-K, US Foods Holding Corp. 2024 Form 10-K, and Performance Food Group Company 2024 Form 10-K. Sysco and PFG fiscal 2024 ended June 29, 2024; US Foods fiscal 2024 ended December 28, 2024.
Cold-Storage Distribution Scale and Capacity
Temperature-controlled logistics is a distinct part of food distribution because capacity is reported in warehouses, cubic feet, pallet positions and square feet. Americold reported 239 warehouses, approximately 1.4 billion cubic feet of total capacity, approximately 5.5 million pallet positions, approximately 14,000 associates and approximately 3,200 customers at December 31, 2024.
Americold’s North American network represented approximately 1.23 billion cubic feet across 192 warehouses, while South America represented approximately 10 million cubic feet across two warehouses. The regional figures are rounded, and the global total includes four managed sites.
Lineage reported approximately 86 million square feet of temperature-controlled warehouse space, approximately 3.1 billion cubic feet of capacity and 488 warehouses at December 31, 2024. Its regional warehouse counts were 313 in North America, 89 in Asia-Pacific and 86 in Europe, and it served more than 13,000 customers globally.
| Operator | Reported capacity or space | Warehouses | Customers | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americold | 1.4 billion cubic feet | 239 | 3,200 | Dec. 31, 2024 |
| Lineage | 3.1 billion cubic feet; 86 million square feet | 488 | More than 13,000 | Dec. 31, 2024 |
Sources: Americold Realty Trust Q4 2024 Investor Presentation and Lineage, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K. These are operator-level figures and should not be treated as market totals.
Americold also reported a total recordable incident rate 43% below the industry average in its December 31, 2024 presentation. That is a company-reported safety comparison, not a food-distribution throughput measure.
Food Distribution Losses, Waste and Supply-Chain Outcomes
Global loss and waste estimates show why distribution outcomes cannot be measured only by sales or warehouse capacity. The FAO database summary estimates that 13.2% of global food was lost after harvest and before retail.
The same FAO page cites 2024 UNEP statistics indicating that a further 19% of food was wasted at retail, food-service and household levels. Because that figure combines three stages, it is broader than distribution-only waste and should not be added to the post-harvest estimate as a precise distribution total.
FAO states that food loss and waste account for an estimated 8–10% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. This is the broad food-loss-and-waste footprint, not emissions from transportation, warehousing or distribution alone.
Source: FAO Food Loss and Food Waste Database. The estimates aggregate evidence across products and geographies and combine different stages and populations.
Food Distribution Benchmarks by Customer Channel
Sysco’s fiscal-2024 customer mix illustrates how foodservice distribution depends on multiple institutional and commercial channels. The figures are company estimates by customer type, not market-wide distribution shares.
| Sysco customer category | Estimated share of fiscal-2024 sales |
|---|---|
| Restaurants | 62% |
| Education and government | 7% |
| Healthcare | 7% |
| Travel and leisure | 6% |
| Other | 18% |
Source: Sysco Corporation 2024 Form 10-K. The “other” category includes several smaller channels and logistics or retail activities, so it is not a single customer segment.
Restaurants represented 63% of Sysco sales in fiscal 2022, compared with 62% in fiscal 2023 and 62% in fiscal 2024. The figures are rounded whole percentages and describe Sysco’s estimated customer mix rather than the entire food-distribution market.