Nod to Baldor

Baldor is a family-owned business that began in 1918 with a pushcart. In 1946 the founder, Louis, opened Balducci’s in the west village. Louis and his wife had two children, Andy and Grace. Grace married their friend Joe. Andy and Joe created Baldor, a wholesale division. In 1991, Andy’s son-in-law Kevin separated Baldor from Balducci’s as a stand-alone importer and distributor of foods throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic from hotels to restaurants to hospitals to country clubs. Kevin’s son, T.J. is now the CEO of Baldor. Impressive family history of course dating back to Louis coming to America from Italy to find his fame and fortune.

In mid-March when we all began lockdown mode, Baldor began delivering to customers. At the beginning their site was torture. It was reminiscent of the dial-up internet of the early 90’s. It could take hours to place an hour and most of the products came in bulk. Good for a big group but tough for a family.

I am so impressed with how quickly they changed. Their home delivery program is excellent and so is their website. Over a period of less than three months they evolved into the ability to order food to your house pretty much every day of the week. You can edit your cart up until the night before your scheduled delivery. There is a minimum but it is not hard to get there. Their selection is fantastic from vegetables to olive oil to meats to local farm products. Once in awhile we have slipped up and ordered an entire box of cabbage but you live and learn and make a lot of cole slaw.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a company shift so quickly based on the world around them. They got the site moving effortlessly and are delivering everywhere every day. I am so impressed with Baldor and am now a customer for life. A huge nod to Baldor.