Inside Gordon Food Service’s Digital Home for 20,000 Employees
A family-owned food distributor turned connection into a competitive advantage: uniting drivers, warehouse teams, and office staff across 25 distribution centers with one platform that honors everyone's importance.
Unified
communication across 25 distribution centers and 180 retail stores
Bridged
geographic and demographic divides across warehouse, office, and delivery teams
Strengthened
recognition culture and cross-division visibility
As a global food distributor, Gordon Food Service has always put its people first, operating for more than 125 years on the simple but powerful principle that everyone is important.
From custodians to drivers, warehouse selectors to office teams, the family-owned company built its reputation on treating people like family, not numbers.
But as the company grew to span 25 distribution centers, 180 retail stores, and 18,000 daily deliveries across the US and Canada, maintaining that culture became harder. Teams were divided by geography, age demographics, and job functions. Warehouse selectors running five and a half miles a day (lifting 250,000 pounds!) worked worlds apart from office staff. Drivers on the road rarely heard what was happening in other regions.
"Before having Workvivo, we didn't really have a platform to collaborate or to share with our entire teams," explains Jason Struve, a Regional Manager. The lack of connection threatened the very culture that made Gordon Food Service special.
Without a unified way to communicate, celebrate, or share across divisions, employees couldn't see the full picture of the company they were building together. Regional stories stayed regional. Recognition happened in silos. And for a company where "everyone is important" isn't just a value but a lived truth, that disconnect was unacceptable.
This story is part of the Frontline Road Trip, a series dedicated to celebrating the real voices and authentic cultures of frontline teams across the U.S.
People
20,000+
Industry
Food Distribution
Location
United States and Canada
Org Size
Enterprise
If any other companies were considering Workvivo, I would 100% go all in on it
Jason Struve
Regional Manager
Creating a Digital Home for Every Employee
Gordon Food Service needed more than a communication tool; they needed a digital home that reflected their family culture. Enter Gordon Grove, their branded Workvivo platform.
The selection was strategic: a solution that could reach every employee type, from meat cutters in production facilities to drivers on delivery routes to retail store associates. It had to be mobile-first, intuitive, and capture the family atmosphere of the company.
The rollout focused on making connection easy and accessible:
- Social Feed: Made culture visible daily, letting employees see stories from every corner of the company – "We used to never hear about other regions and now we can hear about that all the time"
- Recognition Tools: Enabled instant shout-outs and milestone celebrations visible to all 20,000+ employees
- Resource Hub: Centralized everything employees need – timecards, ordering systems, applications – in one mobile-accessible location
- Cross-Division Visibility: Connected multi-divisional teams who previously worked in isolation
The platform was embraced throughout divisions and demographics. “We have basically everything on there. My time cards, my orders (if I need something for the store) ... Everything is on there, conveniently under the resources tab”, notes Mackena Muller, an Assistant Manager.
Stronger Connection Across Teams and Locations
The transformation was immediate and measurable. Gordon Grove became the connective tissue holding Gordon Food Service's culture together:
- Employees across all locations now see and celebrate each other's work.
- Recognition became company-wide, with shout-outs reaching from the shop floor to leadership feeds.
- Resources that once required multiple systems now live in one mobile-friendly platform.
- Regional barriers dissolved as stores connected with peers across geographies.
"I also post when some of my employees hit special monumental anniversaries or birthdays,” says Don Bird, Receiving Supervisor. “I'll take the picture and post it on Gordon Grove for the company to see that they're hitting some pretty cool milestones. That's why I love the platform because not only do we get to see it here, but everybody in the company can see it."
Embedding Culture Into Everyday Work
Workvivo has become embedded in how Gordon Food Service operates daily. It's not a side tool, like the previous setup was; it's central to how the company lives its values at scale.
The platform supports the physical demands of the work (selectors running coast-to-coast distances annually, lifting hundreds of thousands of pounds) with cultural recognition that makes people feel valued.
Looking ahead, Gordon Food Service continues expanding how they use the platform to celebrate, connect, and support its teams. The culture that kept employees saying "what's kept me working at GFS for seven years now is 100% the culture" now has a digital home that reaches everyone, everywhere.