About Us

Thank you for your interest in International Restaurant Distributors, Inc. We hope our new website will be helpful in selecting your new restaurant equipment.

IRD is a Family Business and a Florida Corporation in good standing since January 1984. Each of the four founders of IRD brings something special to the company: knowledge of the restaurant industry, equipment expertise, strong business sense and a flair for creativity. Our business has grown immensely over the past 25 years and is stronger than ever. Our movement into new market segments is fueling new and exciting growth, nationwide.

We enjoy a strong relationship with over 200 of the best-known manufacturers of commercial kitchen equipment and supplies in the United States. We also provide you, our Customer, with unequaled purchasing power through our membership in the NAFED buying group. And, our local Cash & Carry Store and warehouse inventory over $1,000,000.00 in commercial kitchen equipment and supplies.

In our early days, we worked extensively with franchisees of Dairy Queen Restaurants. That business segment today has grown to over 3,800 Dairy Queen Operators who turn to IRD for their equipment and installation needs from complete new store packages to total store remodels, from freezers and refrigeration equipment to furnishings and smallwares.

Our national business has grown over the years to include franchisees of other restaurant chains including Sonic, Burger King, Carvel, Tastee Freeze, A & W Root Beer, Baskin-Robbins, McDonalds, Cold Stone, Dunkin Donuts, Sonny’s BBQ, Taco Maker, and R.J. Gators, as well as many local independent restaurants.

We have also completed kitchen equipment projects in Hotels, Retirement Centers, Specialty Markets / “C” Stores, Convention Centers, Arenas, Schools, Colleges / Universities, Correctional Facilities, and, Airports, as well as the Kennedy Space Center.

Our community is also important to us. Company officers have served as members of the local Economic Development Zone Authority, the School Board Reapportionment Committee, the County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, the Florida School Nutrition Association, the Rotary and more. We are active in the Chamber of Commerce and are Partners in Education with three County Schools.

Our Family looks forward to serving you and providing you with all of the attention that you deserve today, and for the next 25 years and beyond.

Sincerely,
Michael Schutz, CEO

Robert C. Schutz (Jan 23, 1928 - Oct 24, 2009)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Robert "Bob" Schutz, co-founder of International Restaurant Distributors, loving husband of Judith for 56 years, father of six and grandfather to 19, plus seven great grandchildren. He will be missed greatly by his family, the whole IRD team and the thousands of restaurant industry professionals he has met and worked with throughout his 60 year career. At 81, Bob lived life to the fullest. An integral part of the day-to-day operations of the company he operated with his son Mike Schutz, Bob always said gratefully that he "never worked a day in my life."

Be inspired by Bob. Read more here.