How US Foods Turned Their Massive Fleet of Trucks into Rolling Billboards for Success

Entrepreneur

At the National Restaurant Association Show, Diane Hund (Chief Marketing Officer at US Foods) revealed how the company’s marketing strategies, including consistent truck branding and authentic human touchpoints, help build trust and loyalty across more than 250,000 restaurant and foodservice operator partners nationwide.  Watch now to learn how US Foods’ team brings its brand to life, why brand consistency matters, and the ways AI is transforming menu design and marketing for restaurants.  Sponsored by:  • TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc

Transcript

00:00Digital is where it's got to be. We're really kind of all over the meta properties. That's

00:04Facebook, Instagram. You've got YouTube to deliver some really, really great video content.

00:08We deliver emails to our customers. We invest to make sure that when you're searching for

00:12a solution, that information is there for you to see. Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented

00:23by Entrepreneur. I'm your host, Sean Walchef. This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life.

00:30In the restaurant business and in the new creator economy, we learn through lessons and stories.

00:34We are so grateful to Informa for bringing us to the biggest show on earth, which is the National

00:40Restaurant Association show. 55,000 restaurant professionals, 2,200 vendors, 12 football fields.

00:49It is a massive show. This is the fourth year that we've been here. And our goal with this show is

00:54always to find the best lessons, the best stories, the best technologies so that you,

00:59the viewer, you, the person at home, the person that's listening to this podcast can hopefully run

01:04better restaurants. Today, we have Diane Hund. She is the chief marketing officer of U.S. Foods.

01:10We are a U.S. Foods customer at Cali BBQ. Our restaurants in San Diego, we've been running

01:15restaurants since 2008. We have three locations. I'm so fortunate in my team back home that's running

01:21the restaurant so that I can be here. And our goal is to find other people that are here to learn what

01:28are they doing? What can we take back to our restaurants to take care of our restaurants,

01:32run more profitable, more sustainable, and more impactful businesses? Diane, welcome to the show.

01:37It's nice to be here. Can I say that you have such a nice voice? Like I'm listening to you and I'm like,

01:42oh, then I'm going to have to talk in this microphone and I don't sound, I don't sound like you.

01:46You sound fantastic.

01:46You sound fantastic. So chief marketing officer at U.S. Foods, tell us what is the scope of the

01:54work that you do, especially in 2025? In my opinion, everyone's in marketing and everyone's

01:59in sales. And given the fact that we're going to be publishing this on YouTube, on TikTok,

02:04on Instagram, on Spotify, all these different omni-channel storytelling platforms,

02:10tell us what your job entails at U.S. Foods.

02:12It's really easy. First of all, I love marketing and have a passion for it. And marketing in the

02:16food industry is, it's the best. Because who doesn't love marketing food? So marketing at U.S.

02:21Foods. First of all, I love U.S. Foods and the fact that we have a real appreciation for marketing.

02:26And that's because we have a great story that we want to tell our customers, our value proposition.

02:30And when you really know what you want to say, the job of marketing is just simply to get that word

02:34out there. Make sure that all of our customers know what value we can provide to help them be

02:39amazing operators in the food service space. So for me, I remember when we became U.S.

02:45Food customers, Brad Newberg, shout out to Brad. He was one of the first humans on the U.S.

02:50Food side that touched our business, touched our heart. Now it's Joshua Downing who's carried that

02:55torch and now Gabe. What we believe deeply in is it doesn't matter how big a company gets,

03:00it actually is even more important the bigger a company gets that they invest in the humans.

03:04You have so many incredible humans at U.S. Foods that are delivering products, delivering services

03:09to restauranteurs all over the country. Are we international? Is U.S. Foods international?

03:14No, just U.S.

03:16Okay, just U.S. But all over the United States. How many customers do U.S. Foods have?

03:19Oh my gosh, 100,000.

03:21100,000, over 100,000.

03:22Over 100,000.

03:23Okay, amazing.

03:24Yeah.

03:25Can you tell me about the humans?

03:26Well, so you said it was your first human touch.

03:29Yes.

03:29So perhaps we touched you in a non-human way before that.

03:32That is marketing. Thank you.

03:33So marketing, well, we have both our digital way we're going to engage you and then we have

03:38our sellers and our specialists and everybody who helps bring our brand to life.

03:42You know, we don't make a product that's got a package and our names on it and you can go

03:48buy it off the retail shelf. Our brand is our people and how we deliver that to you.

03:53So as part of marketing's job, we want to make sure that our sellers are an extension of our brand,

03:57that they know what to say, that they have that expertise, that they can bring that to you,

04:01help you be successful. And we do that with the sales people that you were talking about.

04:06And then our whole team of specialists behind them who can help answer even more in-depth

04:11questions you might have about your operation. Even our drivers, all of them are extension of

04:15our brand. And we have just super great people supporting this super great brand.

04:20What would you do if a bottle smashed through your front window of your business today? How would

04:29you respond? This is exactly what happened to Nick Rodriguez from Famous Creations. And thanks to

04:36Next Insurance, he recovered from this horrible incident fast. Nick filed a claim on Friday,

04:42got paid on Monday, and had a brand new window installed by Thursday. That's the kind of speed and

04:48protection you want when your business is on the line. Running a restaurant isn't glamorous.

04:53It's long hours, it's hard work, and it's putting out fires every day. The last thing you need is a

04:58busted window, broken pipe, or some other disaster that prevents you from running your business. And

05:04then on top of the disaster, the last thing you want is getting buried in paperwork just to fix it.

05:09Next, understand small business owners. Plans start at just $25 and you can get a quote in less

05:15than 10 minutes. And you can actually buy a policy online without having to talk to someone if you

05:21want to move fast. You can also manage everything from their app and file claims 24-7. So whether you're

05:27in pizza, pasta, or poke bowls, make sure that your business is backed by coverage that gets it. Visit

05:34nextinsurance.com slash Calibbq, C-A-L-I-B-B-Q, and search Next Insurance on Google to get your quote

05:43today. And just a quick note, all claims are unique and handled according to relevant facts

05:47and policy documents. I would love to talk about branding specifically because in the B2B space,

05:55me too, in the B2B space, a lot of companies don't do well. U.S. Foods stood out to me. The first,

06:02it was actually a non-digital touch point, but it was when you re-wrapped your trucks.

06:07Yes. Can you tell me about the re-wrapping of the trucks? Why did you do it? How did you do it?

06:12Because I take pride now visiting Chicago and seeing the U.S. I'm out on my walks,

06:18my Sunrise Gratitude walk, and I see a U.S. Foods truck and it makes me feel proud that I picked the

06:22right company. Oh, that's so great to hear you say. So the actual re-wrap, rebranding of our company,

06:27which is what we did back a little bit over 10 years ago when we became a public company,

06:32we decided one of the most important billboards for our brand is our trucks.

06:37Yep.

06:37And so we wanted to make sure that we had a message that focused on our customers. So that's why our

06:42trucks have our customers on it. It's all about, it's another one of our reinforcements of we help

06:47you make it. And our trucks are so important because they really are. I mean, that's the

06:51billboard that gets seen by millions and millions of eyeballs every single day and sits in front of

06:56your establishment. So we want you to have pride in it. So all of our trucks are the same.

07:00And it takes a lot. It takes a lot to be consistent and adhere to that consistency.

07:06Yes.

07:07But that's one of the things. And as an operator, guys, like being consistent in your brand and how

07:12you deliver that brand is really, really important. And that's one of the things that makes our brand

07:16just stand out is that we consistently deliver that message, even on those trucks.

07:20I think that I've actually never even thought about it until you started talking about it. But

07:24when you put your brand on the truck, it shows the pride that you have and what you're delivering

07:29to the restaurant owner. And it holds the driver accountable, the salesperson accountable,

07:33the person that's packaging the food accountable, the executive suite. Everyone is now accountable

07:38because of something that most people overlook.

07:41Oh, completely. And there's so much pride in our associates.

07:43It's like you'll get stories of our associates who they'll have their neighbor, they'll have their

07:47kids, they'll take pictures of the U.S. Foods trucks when they see them on the street.

07:51And so we send them around. And if you want to do that hashtag U.S. Foods truck spotting.

07:55Sweet. Really?

07:57Absolutely.

07:57Very cool. Tell me about the digital strategy 2025 and beyond.

08:02Digital is where it's got to be. So we want to make sure we're delivering our message

08:06where our operators are listening. And they're spending a lot of time in a digital area.

08:10So, yes, we're really kind of all over the meta properties. That's Facebook, Instagram,

08:15because our operators are on there and we're hitting them with messages. Obviously,

08:19we've got YouTube to deliver some really, really great video content. We deliver emails to our

08:25customers. You name it. Like we invest to make sure that when you're searching for a solution,

08:31like maybe you're trying to find, you know, how do I help hire more staff or, you know,

08:35what do I do with the waste that's coming from my potatoes? Anything that you might be looking

08:39for and struggling with? When you Google that, we're going to show up because we've got a solution

08:43for you on our site. So we just want to make sure that that information is there for you to see.

08:47So we believe deeply in community. We believe a rising tide lifts all ships. I don't believe

08:51that I'm competing with any other barbecue brand in San Diego. In fact, we shut down the street in

08:55front of our restaurant, invited all the barbecue brands in San Diego. We did that. We did that for

08:5910 years. So that was our Spring Valley Tailgate and Barbecue Festival. But one of the things that I

09:04love about what U.S. Foods is doing this into the future is bringing owner and operators together.

09:10Can we talk about this big event that you're planning in Las Vegas?

09:14Yeah, we can, Sean, because that event is designed to exactly do that. So we're here at NRA,

09:19which is a big event. And we've always felt that we want to make sure our food shows provide the

09:25best environment for operators. Yes, you can go to a food show and you should, and you should taste

09:29product and make sure that you're walking away with the right product solutions. But you need more than

09:34that. So we want to make sure when you go to that food show, a lot of times distributor food shows,

09:38it's kind of just that. You're doing lots of tasting, you're meeting the team, which is super

09:42great. But we said, let's start from scratch. Let's design the right show that's going to give

09:46them everything they need. And that's more than just the products. It's lots of solutions. It's lots

09:51of inspiration. So we started mapping this out. And before we knew it, we had a show that was 180,000

09:56square feet in size. Two days of content, massive need for education and general sessions. And so

10:03we were like, oh, we can't do this all over the country, which is what we usually do. We usually

10:07go all over the country. We've got to just do this once and bring everybody from the country

10:11to Vegas to experience it. That's amazing. Can you share a little bit about what's going to be

10:15happening for customers that are coming out to the show? Yeah. So registration is already open.

10:21We've got a lot of our content already figured out. When you show up, you're going to have a general

10:26session on that first day. And one of the most important things we want to do is we want to

10:29inspire you. So we have Emmett Smith joining us. Emmett Smith, Hall of Famer. Dallas Cowboys. Let's

10:36go. Awesome. I know. And he's pretty inspirational. And if you leave that and you are not inspired to

10:41do something different, then you probably weren't listening. So we've got Emmett Smith. We've got

10:45Jet Tila is going to be joining us on our culinary stage. He's super inspirational. So you're going to be

10:51walking around. I will be there. 100%. Our team, Cali Barbecue, we're going to be with

10:55the Kings of Fish team. So if you are watching this, go to Amazon Prime and watch Kings of Fish.

11:00Michael Angaro and his entire family, San Pedro Fish Market. It is an incredible fourth generation

11:05story. They built a reality show that is now streaming. They are a fish media company. They

11:11share all of the ups, all of the downs. They're building an incredible business. But more importantly,

11:17they're sharing it for all of us that are in the restaurant business that we understand that

11:22it's not always just because you have a full restaurant doesn't mean you don't have problems.

11:25No. Right. Right. Absolutely. So this could be great. I'm looking forward to it. We're really

11:30excited. Yeah. Yeah. So go online and register. It is open to all operators. So anybody who's in the

11:36industry is welcome to attend. And we're going to be doing a big push on it. So if you haven't been

11:41seeing, we've been doing some pretty spectacular marketing. Yes. So I'm really hoping that a lot of

11:45people have already seen the message, already know about the event. But you can go to usfuse.com and check it

11:50out yourself and go ahead and get registered. That's amazing. Tell me from a high level

11:54perspective, what does leadership mean? How do you build out a marketing team for restaurants?

12:02So marketing for me, you got to have passion first. Yeah. So I'm going to have to have a team

12:07that's a combination of passion, experience, expertise, and leadership. So if I can build a team

12:13of people who have all of those, some people know about the food industry. Some people know about

12:17marketing, you put that together and we can do some really awesome digital marketing.

12:21I wanted to talk to you a little bit about something new that's coming out because, you

12:25know, it's all about technology these days. Right. So AI technology. Yes. So one of the

12:32things you've been doing for years, we make we make operators menus for them. Amazing. And

12:36you've redesigned our menu. Yeah. Yeah. You've done. You guys have done great work. We do. We do a

12:40nice job. We don't just make it's got to be a reflection of your brand. Yep. It's one of your

12:44most important tools. And then we're going to help you also make sure it's profitable,

12:47pretty and profitable. Yep. But now like, let's say, let's say you're putting something new on

12:51your menu and you don't have time to go get a nice photo of it. We can do that for you. Just tell us

12:56what your application is. Like, let's say you want to offer a new shrimp appetizer and you're going to

13:01serve it on a, like a new kind of cool cutting board with a little single serve of some aioli,

13:07put some parsley on it, a little drizzle butter, but you can't take that photo right now. You just tell us

13:12that we're going to build you an awesome photo that is on brand for you. Yes. We're using AI to

13:17do that. Cool. So that then you can have a menu that is truly reflective of your brand and who you

13:21are. Did you know that toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada and

13:29UK? It's an incredible company. I'm on the toast customer advisory board. They are proud sponsors of

13:34this show, restaurant influencers. We couldn't do it without their support. They power our barbecue

13:39restaurants in San Diego. If you have questions about toast, if you're thinking about bringing

13:44toast on to be your primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me. I'm happy

13:50to get a local toast representative to take care of you. You can reach me at Sean P. Welcheff on

13:56Instagram. Once again, thank you to toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of

14:01storytelling, the power of hospitality. Back to the show. What, uh, what do you, what do you hope to,

14:07to get, I mean, thank you for coming to this show. We really appreciate it. I mean,

14:10what, what, what are you seeing? What are you hearing in the industry now that, uh, you've

14:14been here at the show? Yeah. So, you know, everybody's it's, you know, it's the same every

14:18year. Everybody always struggles what's going on in the outside economy that may or may not be

14:23impacting my business. What are you going to do about it? It's the number one question I think

14:26that everybody's getting at, but I don't think it's any different than it is any other year.

14:30Operators are always struggling with how do I manage my costs? How do I keep my people engaged?

14:35How do I make sure I've got enough demand so that at the end of the day, I'm making a few bucks in

14:39this business and that never changes. And that's, that's what we're here to do is to help people

14:44be successful in those things. And you know what guys, it comes from understanding your brand and

14:48your value proposition. Like unless you have a hundred percent share in your market,

14:52it doesn't matter what's going on in the economy. You can grow, you can grow. So how get focused on

14:58that instead of focusing necessarily on, Oh my gosh, there's, you know, what's going to happen in the

15:02next couple of months. Focus on how do I make sure I'm growing? Cause there's always share to be

15:06gained. So before we started this show, Kelly Esten, who is the chief marketing officer at Toast

15:11and thank you to Toast for sponsoring this show, for believing in me, for believing in storytelling,

15:16giving us the opportunity to go all over the country, um, to record these podcasts. But she came

15:21in, um, and she was talking with you about women in leadership and hospitality. And I think it's

15:27something that's really important. What, what does it mean to you? And for anybody that's watching

15:31this, that might be a woman in hospitality. You're the chief marketing officer of a publicly traded

15:35company. Kelly is also, um, what, what hope can you give them and what advice could you give?

15:43Well, um, you can do it. Um, there's, there's no doubt. I have no doubt that women can be successful

15:50and I am excited that we continue to see more and more women at higher levels within the organization.

15:55Uh, WFF, uh, women of food service forum is actually an awesome outlet for people who want

16:00to network with other women who are trying to, to find, uh, just a common, common, uh, point of view,

16:07other people who are facing the same challenges, uh, finding ways to get ahead. But, you know,

16:12we're, we're in a day today where it's just been easier than ever for women to succeed. And,

16:17and if, if people like Kelly and I can find ways to make it easier for them, that's what we're going

16:21to do. That's amazing. If you guys are watching this, we just launched a restaurant

16:24technology, sub stack newsletter. Um, it is a chance for us to go deeper into the technology

16:30that is running restaurants. We're really excited about it. Please subscribe to that show. Uh,

16:34what's the best channels for people to connect with us foods? Uh, we'll go to our website. And

16:39then, uh, if you're on, if you're on meta, Facebook, Instagram, you're going to get everything

16:42from us. Um, and then if you're a customer be on Moxie, hopefully all of you are, that's our

16:47e-commerce platform. Uh, and it's, it's more than just e-commerce because now it has the opportunity

16:52to help you manage your inventory, give you really, really good cost calculators so that you can get a

16:57better sense of your profitability per item. Uh, it's just built with a whole bunch of kind of

17:02knowledge and like data inside that makes it really smart. I appreciate that. If you guys want

17:07to connect with me, I'm easy to find at Sean P. Welchef. Instagram is probably the fastest,

17:12but LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, definitely subscribe to our Cali BBQ media YouTube channel. We've been

17:18doing a lot of really deep work in there. We're really proud of the work that we're doing. If

17:22you're a U S foods customer, a toast customer, we would love to hear your story. We'd love to hear

17:26about your technology. Um, and as always stay curious, get involved and don't be afraid to ask

17:31for help. Thank you so much for coming here and taking time for us. Nice to be here. And we'll see you

17:35at food fanatics in Las Vegas. We can't wait. Vegas baby. Vegas. Let's go.

17:39Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. If you've made it this long,

17:45you are part of the community. You're part of the tribe. We can't do this alone. We started,

17:49no one was listening. Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.

17:54Please check out our new series called restaurant technology, sub stack. It's a sub stack newsletter.

18:00It's free. It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants. Also go to YouTube

18:05and subscribe to Cali barbecue media, Cali BBQ media on YouTube. We've been putting out a lot

18:11of new original content. Hopefully you guys like that content. If you want to work with us,

18:15go to the show.media. We show up all over the United States, some international countries.

18:21We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling. You can reach out to me

18:25anytime at Sean P. Well, chef on Instagram. I'm weirdly available. Stay curious, get involved.

18:31Don't be afraid to ask for help. We'll catch you next episode.

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