Sales professionals in Food distribution
Ray Young and Jeff Lentz have each sold for two of Sysco, US Foods, Performance Food Group and Gordon Food Service, and four more of these food distribution sales professionals have worked at one of them; the rest hold titles at KeHE Distributors, C&S Wholesale Grocers, UNFI, Harvest Sherwood Food Distributors and G&C Food Distributors Inc. The group can explain what makes a restaurant operator switch distributors and what a rival offers to take the account.
Professionals to explore
Aaron Farmer
LinkedInExperience: Former Vice President of Sales · Performance Foodservice
Building trust-based relationships with foodservice customers is how Aaron Farmer describes the work as Director of New Business at US Foods since 2026. Aaron was Regional Sales Manager at Performance Foodservice Alabama (2025–2026), Vice President of Sales at Performance Foodservice (2022–2025), and Vice President of Sales (2022–2023) and Director of Sales (2021–2022) at Merchants Foodservice.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Dana Green
LinkedInExperience: Director of Commercial Sales · Gordon Food Service
Commercial account sales questions fit Dana Green, Director of Commercial Sales at Gordon Food Service, in the Allegheny Valley Division, since 2024. Dana's earlier titles there are Regional Sales Manager (2021–2024), Business Developer (2020–2021), Regional Sales Manager (2017–2020) and Commercial Sales Manager Cleveland East - Erie (2015–2017).
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Dante Franceschelli
LinkedInExperience: Director · The Food Partners; Former Vice President, Business Development · C&S Wholesale Grocers
Director at The Food Partners since 2025, Dante Franceschelli held Vice President & General Manager (2022–2024), Vice President, Business Development (2019–2024) and Director of Corporate Development & Strategy (2016–2019) titles at C&S Wholesale Grocers. Dante was also Chairman of the Board of Regents at NGA Foundation (2024) and describes leadership across wholesale distribution, grocery retail and supply chain, a fit for grocery wholesale questions.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Gustavo Paguaga
LinkedInExperience: Director of International Sales & Logistics · G&C Food Distributors Inc
Both the buying and the international sales side of food distribution come together for Gustavo Paguaga, in Miami, Director of International Sales & Logistics at G&C Food Distributors Inc since 2021 and Buyer there (2019–2021). Gustavo was Beef Buyer at Quirch Foods (2017–2019), and Head Buyer (2014–2016) and Senior Sales Professional (2014) at Cargill.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Jeff Lentz
LinkedInExperience: Director of Business Development · Performance Food Group
Jeff Lentz has been Director of Business Development at Performance Food Group since 2023, after Regional Sales Manager there (2022–2023), and was Regional Sales Manager at Sysco (2015–2020). Jeff describes 23 years of sales in the food service wholesale and distribution industry, which makes Jeff a fit for questions on winning new foodservice accounts at Performance Food Group and Sysco.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Ray Young
LinkedInExperience: Commercial Sales Director · Gordon Food Service
What a restaurant buyer wants from a distributor is something Ray Young can speak to from the operator side, as District Manager General Manager at Preferred Hospitality, Inc.; Market Broiler Restaurants/Provider Contract Food Service (1995–2004) and General Manager at South Bay Grill, Inc. (1989–1993). Ray has been Commercial Sales Director at Gordon Food Service, in its Carolinas Division, since 2020, and was Regional Sales Manager there (2018–2020) and at US Foods (2004–2017).
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Richard Deferia
LinkedInExperience: Chief Revenue Officer · Whetstone Distribution; Former Region VP of Sales · Sysco
Chief Revenue Officer at Whetstone Distribution since 2025, Richard Deferia was Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at Fortune Fish & Gourmet (2024–2025). At Sysco, Richard held Region VP of Sales (2020–2024), VP of Sales at Sysco Cleveland, Inc. (2019–2020) and Regional Sales Manager at Sysco Nashville, LLC (2017–2019), and describes 20+ years in food distribution sales with a focus on building national commercial teams.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Rukhsana Shamsuddin
LinkedInExperience: Vice President, Sales · KeHE Distributors
Supply chain operations paired with strategic account selling run through Rukhsana Shamsuddin's KeHE Distributors titles: Vice President, Sales since 2023, Executive Director, Strategic Account Management (2022–2023), Senior Director, Strategic Account Management (2021–2022), Director of Account Management (2020–2021) and Director of Supply Chain (2018–2020).
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Sandy Gilbert
LinkedInExperience: Former Director of New Business Development · Harvest Sherwood Food Distributors
Sandy Gilbert became Business Development Manager at G&C Food Distributors Inc in 2026 after Key Account Manager at UNFI (2025–2026). At Harvest Sherwood Food Distributors, Sandy was Director of Sales Marketing (2022–2025) and Director of New Business Development (2020–2022), and at Sherwood Food Distributors held Director of Marc's Sales and Operations (1996–2020), a 24-year role that suits key account questions.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Steve Jokiel
LinkedInExperience: Director of Business Development - Lake Michigan Area · US Foods
Steve Jokiel's US Foods titles are Director of Business Development - Lake Michigan Area since 2023, Vice President of Sales (2022–2023), Senior Director Sales Effectiveness (2021–2022), VP of Sales (2019–2021) and Sr. Manager New Business Excellence (2017–2019). The sales effectiveness and new business titles fit questions on sales effectiveness and opening new accounts at a distributor.
Is this you? Claim your profile and get paid for calls.
Choose the right perspective
For restaurant and commercial accounts, Ray Young and Dana Green hold commercial sales director titles at Gordon Food Service, and Steve Jokiel, Aaron Farmer and Jeff Lentz cover business development and new business at US Foods and Performance Food Group. Richard Deferia brings the chief revenue officer view; Rukhsana Shamsuddin, Dante Franceschelli and Sandy Gilbert cover KeHE, C&S Wholesale Grocers and UNFI, and Gustavo Paguaga covers international sales and buying.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01What makes a restaurant operator switch its main distributor, and how do you win that account?
- 02How do distributors set delivery minimums and order sizes for independent restaurants?
- 03What does a food supplier need to get its products added to a distributor's catalog?
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.