Online Marketplace Offers Local Foods to Restaurants 

ChefHero, an online marketplace that enables restaurants to order wholesale produce, meats, artisanal foods and kitchen supplies through one platform, officially launched its first U.S. location in Chicago earlier this month.

The startup recently secured $12.6M in Series A funding from investors.

ChefHero provides smaller chains and independent restaurants access to hundreds of local Chicago-based producers who handle their deliveries. Users of the free app will also benefit from significant cost savings with group buying power they would not otherwise experience, as well as the ability to compare and monitor pricing in real time.

 ChefHero was started in Toronto and born out of a need to modernize the food and kitchen supply ordering process. With nearly 800,000 restaurants across North America spending billions of dollars on food and beverage products each year, as well as an industry-wide desire to reduce food costs that account for 30 percent of a restaurants overhead, ChefHero says there is promising runway.

For food suppliers, ChefHero reduces or eliminates overhead costs associated with having to pay a front-line sales team. The platform will also act as a gateway to hundreds of new customers and increased earning potential. Suppliers also receive one consolidated on-time payment from ChefHero on behalf of customers so they don’t have to chase payments from individual accounts. They can also unload overstock quickly, as it is actively promoted to prospective customers through the platform in real-time. The suppliers handle the deliveries.