From Horse & Wagon to a $12 Billion Market Leader
Founded in 1897, Gordon Food Service (GFS) has grown into North America’s largest family-operated foodservice distributor. With a deep commitment to sustainability and employee well-being, GFS continuously invests in better workplaces, smarter solutions, and innovative breakroom technology.
When they set out to improve the breakroom experience across their facilities, they turned to HOTLOGIC®.
The Challenge: Rethinking the Breakroom
GFS’s corporate headquarters in Wyoming, MI, is a state-of-the-art, 386,000-square-foot facility built with sustainability at its core. It features five breakrooms, each designed to give employees a comfortable place to unwind. However, the traditional microwave setup wasn’t cutting it.
Employees faced:
❌ Long microwave lines, eating into valuable break time.
❌ Limited meal options, since microwaves often overheat or unevenly warm food.
❌ Frustration over fridge space, with employees needing to store cold or frozen meals until lunch.
GFS needed a solution that enhanced convenience, efficiency, and overall employee satisfaction.
The Solution: HOTLOGIC® Smart-Shelf Cooking
To create a seamless, efficient, and enjoyable breakroom experience, GFS introduced HOTLOGIC®’s Smart-Shelf technology, a revolutionary low-and-slow heating method that eliminates the need for microwaves while delivering perfectly warmed meals every time.
- Automated & Self-Regulating – Smart shelves detect meals, heat them gently, and hold them at an ideal serving temperature for hours.
- No More Waiting – Employees place their meal in HOTLOGIC® when they arrive at work and grab it hot and ready at break time—no lines, no stress.
- More Time to Recharge – By removing the microwave bottleneck, workers gained an extra 8 minutes of break time on average.
The Results: Employee-Approved, Company-Wide Expansion
The initial pilot with two units quickly grew into a company-wide rollout. In just 12 months, GFS added 34 more HOTLOGIC® units across eight facilities, including all five breakrooms at their new corporate campus.
- Employees loved the convenience—no more fighting for fridge space or waiting in line.
- Breaks became more enjoyable, allowing for more time to relax and recharge.
- Company leadership embraced the change, incorporating HOTLOGIC® into future facility designs.
Facility Manager Keven Diekevers said it best:
“I will never build another facility without spec’ing them in.”
Gordon Food Services has always been a leader in workplace innovation. Their investment in HOTLOGIC®’s SmartShelf Technology proves that small changes in breakroom design can have a massive impact on employee satisfaction, efficiency, and culture.
If you’re ready to transform your workplace breakroom, let’s talk.
Your employees deserve better.
