It is no secret that the coronavirus has affected how Boston-area residents get their food, but now there is another option for people in the region, and it comes from what would have been seen as an unlikely source before this crisis began.
According to an article from boston.com, some wholesalers are now offering products to the general public in the local area, with the distributors offering food items via delivery service. A few names mentioned as doing this include New York-based Baldor Specialty Foods, J.W. Lopes in Chelsea, Wulf's Fish in Boston's Seaport District, T.F. Kinnealey & Co in Brockton, and Tyler Akabane, who sells mushrooms to Boston-area dining spots. The post mentions that one benefit of ordering from wholesalers is that it can help farms who supply the companies and that have found themselves struggling due to the dropoff in restaurant business that stems from the coronavirus outbreak.
As boston.com says, ordering from distributors can be seen as potential alternative to shopping at grocery stores, though options from a given wholesaler are generally more specialized and limited than that of a supermarket (Baldor does offer a wide variety of food items, however).
[April 1 update: According to posters within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page, at least two other wholesale distributors are offering delivery to the general public as well, including Sunny's Seafood in Boston's Seaport District and the Woburn-based Dole & Bailey. (These were both confirmed by the social media pages for the businesses and the people involved with them.)]
[April 17 update: A poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page mentions that Imported Foods in South Boston is now offering food items to the public as well, with the wholesaler apparently selling produce along with options such as candy, snacks, canned foods, sauces, breakfast items, and more.]
[April 24 update: A message sent to us indicates that The Chef's Warehouse is now offering home delivery to the public as well, including high-end meat, seafood, and produce. The company, which is based in Connecticut, recently acquired Cambridge Packing in South Boston and supplies food items to a number of restaurants in the Boston area.]
by Marc Hurwitz (Also follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston)
[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]
