At Consolidated Food Equipment Distributors, LLC (CFED), we take pride in providing top-branded equipment and quality service for customers throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. We work closely with grocery stores, bakeries, delis, butchers and other commercial food entities to ensure the best equipment for success.
Read about food equipment solutions we’ve provided our customers and how we partner with them for continued success. Contact us to see what we can do for your business.
Grocery shoppers don’t think about the equipment needed to maintain bakeries, deli and meat counters and hot food sections; they simply appreciate the convenience. But grocery stores like Acme work hard to provide the cakes and cookies, freshly cut meats and cheeses and pre-cooked meals customers expect.
Rotisseries, pressure fryers, ovens, bread and meat slicers and even knives and hand-wrap stations make this happen. For these needs, Acme has relied on CFED for more than 25 years.
The F.W. Albrecht Grocery Co., known as Acme, has served customers for 125 years. Like CFED, Acme is a third-generation family business. CFED is their equipment supplier for everything in the meat, deli and bakery departments.
When a new Acme store opens, or an Acme store is remodeled, CFED helps facilitate all the equipment purchases. But that’s just the start of the relationship.
“We have daily contact with Acme team members,” says Mike Gealy. “Our involvement goes beyond supplying equipment. We also offer training and support, handle purchases and repairs and constantly look for innovative ways to meet their changing needs.”
When Acme has a new product offering, they turn to CFED to research the best products and come up with solutions. Mike Gealy helped Acme purchase and use the Ovention oven to support their new pizza and hot sandwich program.
“Acme trusts CFED because we have access to so many products through both ITW and PRIDE,” says Mike Gealy. “With PRIDE, our buying group, we have more than 80 different manufacturers to purchase from, giving us an edge over our competition. We can consider specific needs and choose the best option because of our extensive access.”
CFED’s depth of knowledge about products translates to bottom-line benefits for Acme. A purchase of a Unox combi oven enabled Acme to save $10,000 compared to the price of similar ovens on the market. Five years later, the oven continues to serve their needs.
Farmer’s Rail is a family-owned and operated butcher shop featuring the freshest artisanal meats from Brunty Farms.
The butcher shop, located in Akron, Ohio, is dedicated to selling meat from animals raised sustainably on pasture at their local family farms. All products are organic, with no preservatives added. The shop also sells a wide range of fresh ocean seafood.
The Brunty family found the perfect location in a former floral shop and needed to reconfigure the interior as a full-service, high-end butcher shop. They called on CFED to help find the right products to make their vision a reality in their chosen location.
Space was a major consideration, as the building had to accommodate open areas to maximize the flow of customers, while still allowing room for the equipment to produce the product selection. To make the best decisions to improve functionality, CFED and the Brunty family teamed up on design and layout development.
With the need to free up space in the interior, CFED designed a walk-in cooler outside the building.
Product knowledge
In addition to the Crown Tonka Walk-in Cooler, CFED provided the Farmer’s Rail with a Hobart HT Series Scale, Hobart Slicers, Hobart Tenderizer, Hobart Meat Saw, Daniels Meat Grinder, Howard McCray Deli and Meat Cases and AHT Freezer Merchandisers.
CFED also helped repair some additional equipment purchases the family brought from their former farm store.
By tapping in to CFED’s expertise in layout and design, broad product range and industry knowledge, the Brunty Family was able to realize the high-end butcher shop they envisioned.
“The Bunty’s are super operators and pride themselves on providing top-notch service, just as we do at CFED,” said Mike Lobalzo. “This made us the perfect match for this project. We’re proud to have contributed to the success of the Farmer’s Rail.”
