Direct sales staff per 1,000 employees
Across 8 named companies in 2 industries, the median is 64.9 staff per 1,000 employees, from 21.6 at Ingredion to 109.3 at US Foods.
Quartiles. Lean and heavy quartiles for this metric are in the $150 cut.
Definition
Counts people whose title places them in the function: an exact count for the org and a floor for the process, since someone in another function may perform part of it.
Also called: sales, channel sales, field / outside sales, inside sales, sales engineering, sales executive.
Food & CPG companies
Across 4 food & CPG companies, the median is 24.4 staff per 1,000 employees, from 21.6 at Ingredion to 49.7 at The Kraft Heinz Company. Quartiles are published at 8 or more companies; this cut has 4.
Measured: named-profile census of every person in the function, grossed up for coverage, as of June 2026. The food & CPG benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Direct sales headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | Staff per 1,000 employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ingredion | INGR | paid | 11,200 | 7.22 | paid | measured |
| International Flavors & Fragrances | IFF | paid | 21,500 | 10.89 | paid | measured |
| McCormick & Company | MKC | paid | 14,100 | 6.84 | paid | measured |
| The Kraft Heinz Company | KHC | paid | 35,000 | 24.94 | paid | measured |
Company values and headcounts are in the $150 cut.
Foodservice distribution distributors
Across 4 foodservice distribution distributors, the median is 87.6 staff per 1,000 employees, from 80.1 at Performance Food Group to 109.3 at US Foods. Quartiles are published at 8 or more companies; this cut has 4.
Measured: named-profile census of every person in the function, grossed up for coverage, as of May 2026. The foodservice distribution benchmark.
| Company | Ticker | Direct sales headcount | Employees | Revenue, $B | Staff per 1,000 employees | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chefs' Warehouse | CHEF | paid | 5,156 | 4.15 | paid | measured |
| Performance Food Group | PFGC | paid | 43,000 | 63.30 | paid | measured |
| Sysco | SYY | paid | 76,000 | 81.40 | paid | measured |
| US Foods | USFD | paid | 30,000 | 39.42 | paid | measured |
Company values and headcounts are in the $150 cut.
Get this cut as data
$150 per industry cut adds every named company's value and inputs, lean and heavy quartiles, CSV and a benchmark-format row.
Subscription benchmarks publish this kind of figure as anonymous quartiles; the cut here names every company and dates every number.
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