Pat LaFrieda and Choco Sign Partnership to Digitize Hundreds of Daily Orders
New York – November 30th 2023- Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, the iconic New York-based wholesale meat supplier, announced today that it has signed a partnership with Choco, the technology company building a better food system for restaurants and suppliers. Through this partnership, the Choco ordering platform will digitize LaFrieda’s catalog of 5,000+ products so that customers can order seamlessly 24/7, driving efficiencies across the supply chain while minimizing errors that can occur with manual ordering systems. Additionally, LaFrieda’s 1,600+ customers will have unprecedented visibility into the entire catalog of products LaFrieda offers.
Pat LaFrieda is trusted by thousands of US restaurants and brand names in the hospitality industry such as Minetta Tavern, Porter House Bar & Grill, Hill Country BBQ, and Shake Shack. A family-owned and operated business, LaFrieda has built their operations by offering hands-on and detailed customer service–while utilizing state-of-the-art technology–to ensure customers continually receive the best quality of product for their business. Pat LaFrieda chose Choco to create a seamless ordering experience that delivers on the quality customers depend on.
“We are excited to implement Choco as added value to our customers, offering an easy-to-use app to browse our catalog, place and automate orders, and communicate with our team,” said Pat LaFrieda, CEO of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors. “With Choco’s product, we know we can enhance the customer experience we’ve been proud to offer for over a century, while helping to streamline and automate the process.”
Choco aims to simplify and digitize the food ordering process by taking control of the manual process of ordering between suppliers and restaurants. The company launched in 2018 and has since scaled to work with over 15,000 restaurants and 10,000 supplier partners globally. By taking the error out of the manual food ordering process, Choco and its partners are helping to address and reduce the global food waste problem.
“This partnership marks a milestone in our US operations and we are thrilled to work with the Pat LaFrieda team to build a holistic, dynamic ordering experience for their customers,” said Georgie Thomas, Head of US Operations at Choco. “At Choco, we’re proud to create a product that supports the country’s largest suppliers and empowers a better, faster ordering system. Minimizing order errors at this step not only creates a more efficient kitchen, but helps to meaningfully address the food waste problem that occurs through the supply chain while helping suppliers run their business more efficiently.”
About Pat LaFrieda
Pat LaFrieda is a fourth generation butcher known for supplying the highest quality beef to the best restaurants in NYC (and the country) from Minetta Tavern to Shake Shack. His Great Grandfather Anthony LaFrieda opened LaFrieda Meats in Manhattan's Meatpacking District in 1922 and passed the business down through subsequent generations; Pat has since developed it into an empire. Working with small domestic farms from all around the country, LaFrieda beef can be found at over 1,600 of the nation’s best restaurants. A burger pioneer famous for his dry aged beef and “chopped” not ground meat, he’s created over 50 custom hamburger blends. In 2012, Food Network debuted “MEATMEN,” the reality show that followed Pat and his family through their daily work, meeting with the most famous chefs around in the most sought-after restaurants. LaFrieda has two Pat LaFrieda Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich kiosks at Citi Field – the home of the New York Mets, in addition to a full service restaurant, the Pat LaFrieda Chop House. And in 2014, LaFrieda Meats became the official burger of the Mets, in addition to adding a Meatball Slider stand. He also operates a Pat LaFrieda stand at DUMBO’s Time Out Market, and supplies the entire U.S. Open with beef every year in addition to operating his own stands there. In fall 2014, Atria Books published Pat’s first book, Meat: Everything You Need to Know. It’s a veritable meat encyclopedia from which home cooks can learn Pat’s best meat tips, recipes, stories and more. In October 2021, Ecco published Pat’s second book, Glorious Beef: The LaFrieda Family and the Evolution of the American Meat Industry, a fascinating chronicle of his family’s storied history from humble beginnings to the top echelon of the meat industry.
About Choco
Choco is a company that brings restaurateurs and their suppliers together on a digital platform. Ordering goods becomes as easy as writing a chat message. By optimizing purchasing processes, customers can save time, money and food. The latter is also Choco's main goal. Choco was founded by serial entrepreneurs Daniel Khachab and Julian Hammer. Since its founding in 2018, the company has grown rapidly and is now active in markets such as the U.S., Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Belgium. In February 2022, the total value of goods traded through Choco exceeded $1.2 billion.