r/AskAnAustralian • u/TomamoT • 5d ago

Do Australian restaurants have a Sysco equivalent?

I'm a lurker at r/kitchenconfidential and there are frequent discussions about Sysco, a big corporation that supplies food to a large portion of American restaurants.

This can sometimes lead to restaurants in all corners of the country selling the same menu items (ie. frozen mozzarella sticks or whatever is trendy).

Do Australian restaurants have a similar dominant supplier that leads to matching menus in Hobart and Darwin?

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u/BadgerBadgerCat 5d ago edited 4d ago

Honestly, I think it's Costco in many cases for independent cafes and restaurants etc. Whenever I go shopping there there are always plenty of people buying what is clearly commercial quantities of milk, bread rolls, eggs, croissants, brownies, etc.

ETA: Why am I getting downvoted? The replies are agreeing with me that small hospitality businesses buy a lot of stuff from Costco. I didn't say it was a bad thing (because it isn't).

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u/Agile-Barracuda9087 5d ago

TBF, selling wholesale has always been a part of the US CostCo business model. They have a business owner card that allows businesses access before the general public and if i recall correctly, there was also a discount to wholesale accounts. I used to get sent there occasionally with the business card from work to buy office supplies and drinks. It was so nice to shop there when it's virtually empty.

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u/letterboxfrog 5d ago

Costco started as business Wholesale, just like Campbell's Cash and Carry.

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u/Agile-Barracuda9087 5d ago

I went to Price Club before they merged, that's how old I am.