Being successful in the food and beverage industry demands a passionate drive to grow— on a personal and collaborative level— through continual and impactful human connection. Matthew Mosebrook, Regional Vice President at Chefs’ Warehouse, is the perfect example of achieving this and has brought his leadership qualities to the Metro New York’s foodservice community.
Mosebrook’s career in the food and beverage industry launched when he graduated from college and began working for Hanover Food’s DSD manufacturer in Pennsylvania. In 2002, Mosebrook started working for a small Italian distributor in New York called Vesuvio Foods where he strived to beat Sysco’s quality of service and price standards. His efforts were so momentous that Sysco recognized his work ethic and recruited him.
Mosebrook’s career with Sysco began in 2003 where he worked in Midtown Manhattan and then was recruited to work in San Francisco in August of 2005 as a sales representative. Mosebrook said that moving from coast to coast taught him the importance of “finding a niche in different communities.” He has applied what his father has taught him about working in New York to his career, no matter where it takes him geographically: “Everybody in New York wants everything yesterday. And if you give it to them, you’ll do alright.” Mosebrook’s notable resilience and ability to perform well in various environments has led him to success. While working for Sysco, Mosebrook was promoted to district sales manager in 2008 and won the sales manager of the year award in 2013 for two years in a row.
“I kept butting heads with Chefs’ Warehouse and when my boss at Sysco left to go to work for them, he invited me to join his team,” Mosebrook added. “I met with Chris and John Pappas in December of 2013.” Mosebrook began working with Chefs’ Warehouse in Northern California and contributed to its organic growth throughout the next few years. “We built the territory from a base of 13 sales representatives and provided their solutions from Monterrey up to Lake Tahoe.”
The company grew through strategic acquisitions, including Del Monte Eat Co. as well as Ports Seafood. Mosebrook then moved on to manage the protein division of Chefs’ Warehouse which saw significant growth to a $360 million enterprise.
Early this year Mosebrook was given an opportunity to manage the Bronx division of Chefs’ Warehouse and his compassion and admiration for New York’s culture led him to quickly accept the offer. The world seemed to shut down soon after his move due to Covid. Mosebrook joined the Pappas led management team to build a new vision for the company. From supporting the takeout and delivery strategies of Chefs’ Warehouse’s restaurant customer base to the implementation of a B2C strategy, the Mosebrook led New York sales team worked diligently.
Mosebrook and his team have made customer communication a priority over the last nine months. “Life since the pandemic in March has meant layoffs, furloughs, and a readjustment of employee positions for many businesses. So, it’s really all about how a restaurant can remain relevant to its guests. The person-to-person aspect of the food and beverage industry relies heavily on human engagement. This means the need to redefine what this means under social distancing protocol to be effective in maintaining relationships with customers.”
Chefs’ Warehouse and Mosebrook are available to Metro New York’s restaurant and food service community 24/7. “Our goal continues to be to help our customers survive and prosper again with creative strategies to ‘keep their arms around’ their customers. It’s about staying relevant and being impactful,” Mosebrook concluded.
The Chefs’ Warehouse is a specialty food distributor that began sourcing products for high-end chefs 35 years ago. With locations in major metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada, the company serves the finest restaurants, hotels, caterers and gourmet stores in North America.
