grocery inc. (grocery or the "company"), an sec registrant, is a wholesale grocery distributor and retailer in the united states. one of the company’s core businesses is distributing grocery products to restaurants. fresh express inc. (fei) operates a chain of restaurants throughout the world and contracts with manufacturers to obtain grocery and related products for the chain. manufacturers either deliver the products to fei’s restaurants directly or, more commonly, contract with distributors such as grocery to deliver the products.