Before the sun comes up each morning, MRS Baking Distribution Corp. (MRS) has already secured the freshest baked goods directly from 50 top bakeries throughout the New York metropolitan area - and delivered them right to the doors of more than 1,000 foodservice establishments throughout the region.
It’s a scenario that takes place each and every morning, seven-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year … making it possible for local foodservice establishments to secure their fresh baked goods from one convenient source - and making it possible for MRS to have grown into the largest bread and cake distributor in the tri-state area.
Based in College Point, MRS prides itself on the reputation it has built as the master consolidators of the baked goods industry - delivering fresh baked goods to many of the area’s top restaurants, country clubs, catering halls, delicatessens, businesses, schools and camps.
With more than 50 different product lines and 4,000 high quality items available to customers each day, MRS offers a complete selection of breads, rolls, bagels, cakes, pies and pastries and serves more than 40 routes throughout the tri-state area.
In fact, with so many different product offerings and routes, it is hard to imagine that MRS started with the purchase of one single cake route back in 1980. Now, 28 years later, the family-owned-and-operated company has exceeded their wildest dreams when it comes to product lines, distribution capabilities - and the strong relationships that they have created in the foodservice industry.
In fact, it is the strong history behind MRS - and these longstanding relationships with top manufacturers and bakeries that have been formed through the years - that serve as an important reason that many of the region’s foodservice establishments turn to MRS for their supply of baked goods.
With its solid reputation and strong buying power, MRS is able to offer the most competitive pricing in the industry - offering a significant advantage when it comes to value. In addition, due to its position as the largest bread and cake distributor in the region, MRS has become “the distributor of choice” for many new items and manufacturers. That means MRS often gets new products first …and therefore, so do MRS customers.
“Our prices are not only competitive, they are in many instances the best in the industry,” says MRS Vice President Steven Borg, who together with parents Marty and Roberta Borg (who founded the company back in 1980) form the “MRS” behind the company name. “This is accomplished because we can apply our overhead and delivery costs over all parts of an establishment’s baked goods needs, not just the one segment that each manufacturer makes.”
The result? Extremely competitive pricing … and extremely happy customers who consider MRS a valuable partner in the day-to-day operation of their foodservice establishment.
When it comes to their “route to success,” Steven explains how Marty and Roberta founded the company as a single five-night-a-week cake route serving mostly small restaurants and coffee shops in Manhattan - and within 14 months had managed to triple the volume of their business due to their hard work and dedication. Continuing to add product lines (and becoming the first bakery distributor in the New York City metropolitan area to computerize its operations), MRS began its growth period … and by the end of the second year an additional route was added. However, he credits a major decision made early on - to differentiate themselves by becoming a “one stop” source for baked goods - as being the key factor in the company’s growth - and success.
“As we continued to service our customers, we noticed a real need in the industry for a ‘one stop’ source for the delivery of baked goods each day,” says Steven, who oversees all company operations, with Martin and Roberta relocating to Florida in 2005 - where they run a successful restaurant in Delray Beach. “To meet this customer need, we began adding line after line of product, in spite of the fact that each additional line of product represented an additional nightly pickup. Nothing was too difficult for our customers’ needs.”
“Before long, a cake route became a bread and cake route,” continued Steven. “We grew to five major routes in and around the city, and ventured into the in-house cafeteria market. This growth into new markets also required that our deliveries all needed to occur during the nighttime hours - with all merchandise needing to be in place at each location before 7 a.m. each morning. This required a fleet of extremely reliable trucks, employees and route operators - which we secured, and which proved instrumental to our growth during those important years. In fact, we like to say that steady, balanced growth has been the not-so-secret element of our success.”
That “steady, balanced growth” is very much in evidence today, as Steven manages and oversees all operations out of the company’s sprawling new 20,000 square foot offices in College Point (just south of the Whitestone Bridge) - having just relocated in August from their smaller 10,000 square foot offices in Flushing. In addition to Steven, MRS is led by a strong team of professionals - whose combined skills and commitment are what make MRS so successful.
Ira Lampert, Vice President, works hand in hand with Steven in the running of all day-to-day operations at MRS - and brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the company. In addition, the senior management team is comprised of two additional - and extremely valuable - players: IT Manager Frank Massimo (who has written all MRS software and keeps their state-of-the-art computer system running smoothly) and Sales Manager Robert Schulman (who has been instrumental in the company’s sales growth). The staff also includes more than 20 people to handle calls, solicit new business and conduct new item research - with MRS adding new items to their baked goods roster each month.
In addition, from its early humble roots as a simple “one route cake distributor,” the state-of-the-art MRS headquarters office now boasts a sophisticated T1-based telephone system with 48 bi-directional lines, top-line computer resources (including a fully fault-tolerant and redundant Netware network with full back-up power to keep them going even in the event of a power outage) - and a custom-written, proprietary software package that is unmatched in the industry.
“With 4,000 products available everyday, and our ability to be the ‘one source’ for baked goods, we offer significant advantages for foodservice establishments looking to secure the widest selection of baked goods at the most competitive prices,” said Steven.
“In addition, we still maintain our original commitment to not only delivering the freshest baked goods in the region - but to delivering the personalized, attentive customer service that we know is so important to foodservice customers today,” said Steven.
For more information about MRS Baking Distribution, including a full product listing, visit www.mrsbaking.com, or call 718-460-6700.
