SIC 5149 Groceries and Related Products, Not Elsewhere Classified

SIC 5149

This industry is comprised of wholesale distributors of groceries and related products, not elsewhere classified. Some of the products included in this category are: breakfast cereals, bottled water, canned goods, coffee, cookies, cooking oils, crackers, dairy products, pet food, flour, dried fruits, health foods, honey, macaroni and spaghetti, canned or dried milk, pickles, salad dressing, sauces, soft drinks, soups, refined sugar, and yeast. Establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of beer and ale are classified in SIC 5181: Beer and Ale. Wine is classified in SIC 5182: Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverages.

NAICS CODE(S)

422490

Other Grocery and Related Product Wholesalers

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Grocery wholesalers and distributors buy grocery items from manufacturers or other distributors and typically resell them to retail—including grocery and convenience stores—or other commercial enterprises—including food service establishments— that in turn sell the goods to users. The wholesaling industry also includes many firms that import foreign goods or export U.S. products. In practice many wholesalers are integrated with manufacturing and retailing of grocery products as well.

Grocery wholesalers and distributors claim more than 50 percent of the complete grocery and related product sales. Manufacturers' sales offices and branches account for 25 percent, and brokers and agents share 19 percent.

Products within this industry are subdivided into six categories: coffee, tea, and spices (representing about 8.6 percent of the industry's sales volume); bread and baked goods (7.7 percent); soft drinks (13.5 percent); canned goods (23.0 percent); food and beverage basic materials (3.6 percent); and other grocery specialties (43.6 percent).

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

In 1997, Dun and Bradstreet listed 23,093 establishments engaged in the wholesale distribution of groceries and related products. The top 50 wholesale grocers shared 38.6 percent of the market in 1997, with each business averaging $1.62 billion in sales. The top 10 industry leaders totaled $54.2 billion in sales. Industry employment increased nearly 10 percent during the first half of the 1990s, reaching 270,000 workers with a payroll of $8.1 billion. Industry sales totaled more than $150 billion during the...