For Restaurant Owners · Food Cost

Are You Overpaying Your Food Distributor? 86 the Markup Checks Every Line of Your Invoice

Same distributor, same truck, same case of chicken, different price. A new free tool finally shows independent restaurants which side of that gap they are on.

By 5 Reasons to Visit Editors  ·  7 min read

Two restaurants can take delivery from the same truck, in the same week, and pay different prices for the same case of chicken. Neither one knows it. Distributor pricing is negotiated privately, one account at a time, and never published, so there is no list price to hold your invoice up against. Chains employ buyers who compare those prices all day. An independent owner has a rep, a stack of invoices and a kitchen to run. 86 the Markup was built to close that gap: a free invoice price check that shows, item by item and in dollars, whether you are paying more than the kitchens around you.

You can’t negotiate a price you can’t see.

Why you are probably paying more than you think

Overpaying a distributor rarely looks like one bad invoice. It looks like small, quiet changes spread across hundreds of line items and 52 weeks of deliveries. None of them breaks a rule on its own; they show up only when you compare prices across invoices and against other restaurants. These are the six most common:

The last one sits under all the others. What you pay depends on your volume, contract type, delivery frequency, how many items you buy from one distributor and, often, how closely you compare. Many restaurants buy on a cost-plus contract, where the distributor charges its cost plus a markup. When that markup is a percentage, the distributor earns more as food prices rise, which is why it matters to know which kind of deal you signed.

The pressure isn’t easing. A handful of national broadline companies now move most of the food in American restaurants, and in 2026 Sysco agreed to buy Restaurant Depot, the cash-and-carry chain many independents used as their price sanity check.

How 86 the Markup works

The check takes about a minute and uses the invoices you already get. There is nothing to install and no change to how you order.

1. Snap your invoice. Photograph a recent delivery invoice, or upload a screenshot from your distributor’s website. It reads Sysco, US Foods, Performance Food Group, Gordon, Restaurant Depot and local or specialty suppliers.
2. Every line is read and matched. Each item is matched to a standard product and converted to a common unit, such as price per pound, per dozen or per gallon, so a 40-pound case and a 10-pound case compare fairly.
3. See where you overpay. Each item comes back rated fair, worth watching or overpaying, with the dollars you are over on this delivery and what that becomes in a year.

Every price is checked against the strongest comparison available, and the report labels which one it used:

• Restaurants near you: what other independent restaurants in your area paid for the same item in the last 60 days, shown once enough of them have checked it.
• Wholesale market: public wholesale prices for proteins, produce and dairy, before any distributor markup. These are context only and never count toward your overpayment total.
• Your own history: each item is tracked across the invoices you check, so a quiet increase can’t slip past.

What a check turns up

Example lines from 86 the Markup’s sample invoice, which came to $98 over nearby restaurants — about $5,096 a year at a weekly delivery pace. Your own report covers every item.

Why it is the best new tool for independent restaurants

Plenty of software promises to lower food cost. Most of it asks you to change how you order, sign a contract, or route purchases through a program someone else pays for. 86 the Markup does none of that.

• It shows what others actually pay. The comparison is the price on other kitchens’ invoices, not a list price or an estimate — the one number an independent operator has never been able to see.
• It works with the distributor you already have. No switching suppliers or ordering systems; most owners take the report straight to their current rep.
• Only operators pay for it. It takes no money from distributors, manufacturers or rebate programs, so the ratings have no reason to lean anyone’s way.
• Your invoice stays private. The image is discarded once prices are read; your name, address and account number are never stored or shown, and your distributor never learns you checked.
• It puts a dollar figure on the problem. Instead of a feeling that prices are high, you get a total, a yearly projection and your biggest overcharges ranked first.
• It starts free. No account needed to see your total overpayment and your single biggest overcharge.

One honest caveat: nearby-restaurant comparisons get sharper as more kitchens in your area take part, and an item shows an area price only once enough of them have checked it. Where that pool is still thin, the report leans on wholesale prices and your own history, and says so. Every invoice checked strengthens the numbers for everyone nearby.

Turning the report into lower prices

Reps can and do adjust pricing account by account. The owner who says “restaurants near me pay $3.30 a pound for this chicken and I pay $3.85” is in a far stronger position than the one who says prices feel high.

1. Lead with your three biggest overcharges. Three clear asks get more traction than a long list.
2. Ask to match the area price. Specific per-unit numbers turn it into a pricing conversation, not a complaint.
3. Ask which contract you are on. Cost-plus or market, and what the markup is — it explains why prices move and where there is room.
4. Challenge the fees. Fuel, delivery and small-order charges are often negotiable for a steady account.
5. Check the next invoice. Run the next delivery through the check to confirm the agreed prices stuck.

Who it is for

86 the Markup is built for independent operators in the United States — restaurants, caterers, pizzerias, bars and taverns, bakeries and cafés — and the pressure lands differently on each. A caterer prices an event months before buying the food. A pizzeria lives on cheese, flour and oil. A bar tracks pour cost to the ounce while the kitchen invoice goes unaudited. If your check shows your prices are already fair, that is worth knowing too: your rep is treating you well.

5 Reasons to Visit and 86 the Markup share common ownership. This article may contain sponsored or partner content and affiliate links; see our Editorial Policy & Advertiser Disclosure. Sample figures are illustrative; pricing and features are subject to change.