SupplyNow

SupplyNow is a Cleveland, Ohio-based cold-chain logistics company serving food distributors and food and beverage manufacturers. Rather than owning trucks, it coordinates a network of vetted operators running refrigerated box trucks under 26,000 lbs — a non-CDL weight class that widens the available driver pool relative to traditional CDL-dependent refrigerated freight. Every operator runs the company's routing and telematics software before carrying a load, and each load is temperature- and route-monitored from pickup through final delivery, with per-stop temperature and delivery records generated at reconciliation. The company positions itself as distinct from an owned fleet, a broker or load board, a courier marketplace and a warehouse 3PL, citing single-party accountability for the load and mechanical reefer plus per-load sensors.

For distributors, SupplyNow offers four service lines: overflow capacity during peaks or new-account ramp, empty-mile backhaul matching that places loads on otherwise deadhead return legs, same-day recovery and redelivery of missed or short deliveries on a retainer, and dedicated recurring lanes or whole metros run off the distributor's balance sheet while the distributor keeps the customer relationship. For manufacturers, it runs frozen and refrigerated last mile to distributors, retail DCs and stores; recovery and redelivery of refused, missed or rush loads; and new-market launch lanes that allow entry into a metro without standing up a depot or buying trucks. Engagements are structured as a pilot lane measured on the customer's own data (on-time, in-temp, cost per stop, backhaul miles recovered), then a lane set, then broader network coverage, with monthly per-branch reviews and no contract required to start.

An earlier description of the business characterizes SupplyNow as providing software and logistics services to distributors and fleet operators to cut delivery costs and serve more restaurants, with a flagship "Crisis Management" service that supplies restaurants when a vendor shorts them and the vendor is too short-staffed to send emergency supplies, alongside a supply-side network serving distributors for whom same-day and on-demand delivery is uneconomic given CDL driver constraints and fixed weekly routes.

Founding story

Aaron George came to the United States from Dubai in 2015 to study civil engineering and business management at Case Western Reserve University, where he founded PastryNow, a late-night digital delivery platform connecting local bakeries and home bakers to college students at CWRU and Cleveland State University. That business lost its customer base when campuses closed in March 2020. After interviewing restaurateurs and chefs and concluding that existing tools did little to help restaurants control purchasing costs or navigate supply chain failures, George founded SupplyNow in 2021, working with Jolly Scholar brewery owner Matt Vann, to deliver supply chain solutions for restaurants and local distributors.

Business model

Asset-light network model: SupplyNow does not own the trucks, instead aggregating anchor-distributor demand and routing it across vetted third-party operators who run the company's routing and telematics software. The stated economics rely on route density — anchor demand builds density, density lowers delivered cost, and savings are shared with customers, which the company says attracts further anchor volume. Delivered cost is stated at roughly 20–25% below customers' in-house cost.

Usage- and volume-based pricing: manufacturers pay for the loads and miles actually used with no fixed commitment, while distributors' delivered cost declines with recurring lanes and higher volume. Recovery and redelivery service is offered on a retainer. No contract is required to begin with a single pilot lane.

Traction

The company states it has been operating since 2023, runs daily cold-chain routes across nine Midwest metros in Ohio and neighboring states, and counts Restaurant Depot as its flagship anchor customer using the network daily. It reports zero temperature incidents over twelve months and illustrates a sample day of 10 routes, 46 stops and 1,454 km. A third-party profile cites 350+ paid users, $700K+ in monthly volume, and a customer base representing $18B in annual sales in its target market. One customer case is described in which a refused frozen load was recovered and redelivered in-temperature the same day.

Latest developments

The company markets Q4 expansion into Atlanta, Orlando, Miami and Texas, described as customer-led, alongside continued operation of nine Midwest metros anchored by Restaurant Depot.