The Plant based Foods Association (PBFA), the trade association representing 180 plant-based food companies, and Dot Foods, the largest food industry redistributor in North America, have announced a new partnership that aims to increase access to plant-based foods.

PBFA is partnering with Dot to help more plant-based food companies increase their distribution potential, and PBFA will support companies with onboarding.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Dot Foods and address a key barrier for many plant-based food companies: distribution. This partnership will help companies with scalability and will ultimately result in consumers having more plant-based options everywher they eat outside of the home,” said Sabina Vyas, senior director of strategic initiatives for the Plant based Foods Association.

The demand for plant-based foods is on the rise and with increased innovation in the plant-based space, being able to scale fast enough to reach consumer demand can be a challenge for plant-based food companies. Dot serves as a connector to all major operators, distributors, and retailers. If a plant-based food manufacturer works with Dot, their products have the potential to enter new markets that would have otherwise been difficult to reach. By working with Dot Foods, companies can focus on scaling-up production of delicious plant-based foods. With PBFA’s recent launch of The Power Plant, their grab-n-go, and culinary training program, this new partnership with Dot Foods will provide program participants with increased confidence in the consistent supply of plant-based foods for their retail and food service needs.

“Our team at Dot Foods is seeing the market for plant-based foods explode,” said Rodd Willis, director of natural and specialty for Dot. “We want to ensure our customers have access to a larger variety of these foods, and this partnership with PBFA will help us do that.” Dot purchases products directly from manufacturers and resells them to its distributor customers in less-than-truckload quantities, making the supply chain more efficient and cost-effective for all involved. Through the new partnership with PBFA, interested manufacturers will have enhanced access to Dot’s natural and specialty team to evaluate how the company may be able to assist with your distribution needs.

PBFA is a membership trade association representing plant-based food companies with180 member companies.