Our History
It was in 1897 that 23 year old Isaac VanWestenbrugge, a Dutch immigrant, borrowed $300 from his older brother Martin and started his business delivering butter and eggs in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Well, a lot has happened in the next 100 years, and we think Isaac would be proud to see today's result of his humble beginnings!
The journey from delivering butter and eggs via horse and wagon to our current distinction as the largest independent foodservice distributor in America has been an exciting one. There have been good times, a few challenges, and a lot of old-fashioned hard work by several thousand people along the way.
Today, we are the largest privately owned foodservice distributor in North America, ranked in the top 100 private U.S. companies by Forbes Magazine for many years. The fourth generation of Gordon’s currently manage the business.
GFS entered Canada in 1994 with the purchase of two divisions of Maple Leaf Foodservice. GFS's presence in Canada increased in 1996 through mergers with Distal in Quebec and Finlay Greenwood in Ontario. In 2002, GFS purchased Neptune Food Service in British Columbia and Bridgebrand Food Service covering the Prairies. M&S Food Service in the Maritimes came into the GFS fold in 2003. Gordon Food Service has acquired premiere companies across Canada creating a national presence from coast to coast.
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