EcFood.com
Online b2b marketplace for the food industry.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4.0m | Series A | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Related Content
EcFood.com was a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform that emerged during the dot-com era of the late 1990s. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company was positioned as a pioneer in developing web-based procurement solutions specifically for the food manufacturing industry. The CEO of the firm was Dave Laukat, who has since founded and led Chalet Desserts, a specialty frozen bakery manufacturer that was acquired by a private equity firm in 2024.
The company's business model revolved around streamlining the complex supply chain of the industrial food sector. It provided a neutral online marketplace where food manufacturers could manage their purchasing and sourcing. Revenue was likely generated through fees for transactions, subscriptions to its platform, or a combination of both, typical for B2B exchanges of that period. Its target clients were large-scale food producers, exemplified by its agreement with HP Hood, a major dairy manufacturer, to handle their internet-based purchasing.
EcFood.com's core offering was a suite of online purchasing tools named ecFoodware. This platform was designed to translate real-world industrial purchasing practices into a more efficient online process. Its features included advanced sourcing methodologies, supplier profiling and rating systems, negotiated bidding, specification management, and dynamic pricing. The platform also facilitated demand aggregation, allowing multiple buyers to pool their orders to achieve better pricing. In 2000, Forbes Magazine recognized EcFood.com as a “Best of the Web” B2B site for the food industry, highlighting its prominence before the dot-com bubble burst.
Keywords: B2B e-commerce, food manufacturing procurement, dot-com era, supply chain solutions, online purchasing platform, Dave Laukat, ecFoodware, industrial food sector, B2B marketplace, supplier rating, demand aggregation, negotiated bidding, food procurement, HP Hood, digital purchasing, online sourcing, food supply chain, web-based procurement, e-sourcing, food industry technology