Southeast Food Distribution: History of Food Storage & Wholesale Distribution

With nearly half a century of experience distributing frozen foods, Southeast Frozen Foods has established a reputation for reliability, efficiency and integrated customer service in the frozen and wholesale food business.

Lawrence Udell started the company in 1958 as a family business distributing frozen poultry in the Miami area. Under the name Poultry Inc., the company grew over the years into a leader in the cold storage and frozen food distribution business, acquiring other food service companies and expanding its geographic reach.

By the time the company consolidated all its businesses under the single name of Southeast Frozen Foods in 1989, the company had broadened its frozen poultry and dairy business to distribution of a complete line of brand-name food products, including ice cream, frozen foods, fruits, vegetables, breads and pastries.

As Southeast added facilities in new locations in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia and South Carolina throughout the 1990s, the company quadrupled in size, buying new warehouses, assembling a state-of-the-art fleet of refrigerated trucks, hiring dedicated and experienced employees, and developing cutting-edge technology for a uniquely customer-friendly order processing system.

The company also expanded into the wholesale food business, bringing its reputation for order accuracy, individualized customer service and superior quality control to supermarkets throughout Florida, the Caribbean and Central and South America under the brand name Southeast Wholesale Foods.

With an order accuracy rate of 99.7%, a fill rate of 99%, and an integrated ordering system that requires minimal adaptation for new customers to join the Southeast network, it's no surprise that Southeast has become a favorite among grocers, consumers and independent and chain supermarkets. Today, Southeast Frozen Foods is the largest exclusive distributor of frozen food products in the southeastern United States, with five warehouse facilities with 600,000 square feet of space that serve 16 U.S. states, the Caribbean, and South and Central America.

Recently, the company launched a new multimillion-dollar investment plan to make improvements and upgrades to its various facilities. This project will increase our operating efficiencies and utilize new and improved technologies to benefit our customers and improve our bottom line. Southeast looks with confidence to a future of continued innovation, growth and service to its customers and communities.

Southeast is based in North Miami, Florida.