Facepalm

I love that you try to run a honest business, it’s rare to see nowadays

Thanks, I genuinely appreciate that. The restaurant is just a side project, and I only almost break even on it, so people appreciating a straight-forward business is the main joy I get out of it

Has the US completely given up on this market competition thing?

Yes. Over 90% of the market is consolidated into 3 major players: Sysco, US Foods, and Performance Foods. Given how monopolistic American markets are, you can probably guess what I'm going to say next: US Foods and Performance Foods are exploring a merger. Given the regulatory landscape and current US politics, I expect a proposed merger to eventually go through

The US restaurant market is going to get even more consolidated under only a few distributors, which will mean restaurant prices are going to keep rising

Silver lining: That consolidation has allowed a much larger R&D budget than before. Some of the new coatings and things coming out are crazy good. I did a tasting with my Sysco rep, and the frozen french fries are insane now. Fresh cannot realistically compete, which means less food waste and a better end product. As long as they don't start filling the fries with fake shit, it's great