Thirteen-year-old Steve Singleton began helping his neighbor distribute fresh French fries and hash browns to local restaurants. By the time he was in high school, Steve was running the route spanning Tulare through Delano. Then, when he was a sophomore at COS, a twist of fate forced Steve to choose between a promising baseball career and becoming the owner of his neighbor’s company, Valley Food S
ervice. The decision was made, and at the tender age of nineteen, Steve was in business for himself! In those days, the business consisted of a single truck and some rented freezer space. The product list was simple – fresh potato products. Oh, how things have changed! Today we occupy a thirty-thousand square foot warehouse in the Visalia Industrial Park, and run eight trucks daily serving seven counties in the Central San Joaquin Valley. We stock over 5000 items – fresh and frozen foods, canned items, paper goods, and cleaning supplies – and have access to thousands more! Steve can’t do it by himself anymore, either. He pretty much stays in the office these days doing all of the purchasing and bid work. Eighteen employees run the routes, conduct sales, and handle the warehousing necessary to run the business. Since 1993 Valley Food Service has been a member of the Golbon Buying Group, headquartered in Boise, ID. Golbon is a national cooperative consisting of over 200 distributors and 600+ suppliers. Steve has sat on the Golbon Distributor Advisory Council, the Golbon Purchasing Advisory Council, and is currently on the Golbon Distributor Board. Networking through these advisory groups has enabled Valley Food Service to remain on the cutting edge of local, state, and national topics and situations as they arise. Today Valley Food Service is a School Food Service Specialist. We currently deliver to over seventy school districts including Visalia Unified, Porterville City Schools, Corcoran Unified School District, Tulare City Schools, Modesto School District, Madera School District, and Ceres School District. Valley Food Service is also authorized to distribute commodity products through many of our suppliers to eligible school districts. We sponsor two School Food Shows each year, one in January in Visalia, and one in August, the location of which roams throughout our school districts. Valley Food Service has now launched an Online Ordering system, thus opening its doors to the public (so to speak!) for the very first time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simple and contact-free, orders are placed online at www.valleyfood.com and can be picked up by the consumer the next day at our facility. You simply drive into the designated area in the parking lot at our warehouse, stay in your car, provide your name and confirmation number to one of our associates who will promptly deliver your order to your vehicle.
