Last updated: September 2026
Performance Food Group moved $67.8 billion of food in fiscal 2026. It is a Fortune 100 company most students have never heard of, because its name is not on the box. PFG delivers to more than 350,000 locations, from independent restaurants and school cafeterias to convenience stores and movie theaters, through a family of brands that includes Performance Foodservice, Vistar, Core-Mark and Cheney Brothers. It runs on over 44,000 associates and more than 150 locations, and it has been headquartered in Richmond, Virginia for nearly 130 years. Its internship is an 11-week, paid, nationwide summer program spanning corporate and field roles across all of those divisions, and the interns spend part of the summer in food-themed team competitions, because PFG's own framing is that it is "in the business of bringing people together." As of September 2026, the Summer 2027 intern postings have not gone live, but the program page at pfgc.com/Careers/internship-program is permanent and describes the structure in detail.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | pfgc.com/Careers/internship-program — the "View our Internship Opportunities Here" button runs a pre-filtered search across all PFG divisions |
| Application window (2027–28) | Not published. No open date or deadline exists on any PFG surface. Summer 2027 intern postings are not live as of September 2026 |
| Rolling? | Unknown. PFG publishes no application mode |
| Eligibility | Students (implied); no published GPA, major or class-year requirement |
| Duration | 11 weeks, paid, summer |
| Compensation | Paid (confirmed by PFG twice on the internship page). No hourly rate published |
| Locations | Richmond, VA (HQ at 12500 West Creek Parkway) and field placements across 150+ locations nationwide |
| # Divisions | Performance Foodservice, Vistar, Core-Mark, Cheney Brothers, PFG Customized, PFG Specialty, Performance Redistribution, PFG Manufacturing, Afflink, and more |
PFG runs a real, documented 11-week paid summer internship with corporate and field placements, but no Summer 2027 requisitions are posted yet. Set up a BrassRing profile and watch the pre-filtered intern search on the internship page.
Externships are short, remote professional experience programs where you finish a real project with a real company. The Amazon Fulfillment Center Operational Strategy Externship and the Breaking Games E-Commerce Data Analysis Externship build the operations and data analysis evidence a PFG application needs. Explore all Externships.
What Is a Performance Food Group Internship?
A Performance Food Group internship is an 11-week, paid summer placement that puts students into corporate or field roles across one of the largest food and foodservice distribution companies in North America. PFG reported $67.8 billion in net sales for fiscal 2026, operates across three segments (Foodservice, Convenience, Specialty), and delivers to more than 350,000 customer locations through over 150 facilities. The company, headquartered at 12500 West Creek Parkway in Richmond, Virginia, has been in operation for nearly 130 years. The internship program spans corporate functions (Finance, Marketing, IT, HR, Procurement, Legal) and field operations (warehousing, transportation, sales) across the PFG family of companies including Performance Foodservice, Vistar, Core-Mark and Cheney Brothers. PFG's own description frames the program around on-the-job training, mentorship, cohort events and food-themed team-building competitions.
When Do Performance Food Group Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
PFG publishes no application window, no open date and no deadline for its summer internship. The program page at pfgc.com is permanent and describes the 11-week paid structure, but the requisitions appear and disappear on the BrassRing job board without a published calendar. As of September 2026, a search for 'internship' across all PFG divisions returned zero results against 1,271 live openings. The practical advice is procedural: create a BrassRing profile, save the pre-filtered intern search from PFG's own internship page, and check it regularly.
Summer 2027 intern postings are not live. PFG's BrassRing board carries 1,271 open roles and none is an internship. The program page is permanent, so the postings will appear when the cycle opens. Create a BrassRing profile now and save the pre-filtered intern search.
Summer 2027 intern requisitions expected to post across PFG's family of companies. PFG publishes no open date, so this is an inference from the summer program timing. Check the internship page's pre-filtered link weekly.
Three rounds: initial phone screen, then two senior leader interviews over Zoom or WebEx. Glassdoor puts average intern time-to-hire at 12 days. Have your calendar clear.
11-week paid program, corporate placements at Richmond VA headquarters and field placements across 150+ distribution centers nationwide. On-the-job training, a mentor, planned cohort events and food-themed team-building competitions.
How to read this page: our dates come from tracking previous recruiting cycles and daily posting data. Treat them as informed estimates based on historical patterns, not confirmed dates. The company's official careers page is always the most current source. If a role is posted there, go by that, even if this page suggests the window hasn't opened yet.
Why You Must Apply the Week Applications Open
PFG does not publish an application deadline, and it does not publish when the window opens. That means you cannot time your application to a calendar; you can only be ready when the postings appear. The students who get PFG internships are the ones who already have a BrassRing profile, who check the pre-filtered intern search regularly, and who can move fast when a requisition goes live. The interview process itself is fast: Glassdoor puts the average at 12 days from application to hire, with three rounds that are motivational, not technical. That speed rewards preparation over credentials. Have your answer to PFG's signature question ready before the posting appears: what are you looking to get out of this internship?
Which Performance Food Group Internship Programs Should You Target?
PFG offers a single, unified internship program that spans both corporate and field placements across its entire family of companies. The program is designed to give students exposure to the multi-segment foodservice distribution business.
| Program | Focus | Duration | Key details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Internship (Corporate) | Corporate functions at Richmond HQ: Finance, Marketing, IT, HR, Procurement, Legal, Risk/Safety, and more | 11 weeks | Paid; mentor assigned; cohort events; food-themed team competitions |
| Summer Internship (Field) | Operations at one of 150+ distribution centers: warehouse, transportation, sales, production | 11 weeks | Paid; same program structure as corporate; location determined by the specific requisition |
See all openings on the PFG internship program page. The pre-filtered application link on that page searches across all PFG divisions at once: Performance Foodservice, Vistar, Core-Mark, Cheney Brothers, PFG Customized, PFG Specialty and more.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
PFG publishes essentially no formal eligibility criteria for its internship. The internship page describes the program but names no GPA, major, class year or enrollment requirement. What is known:
• Student status: implied throughout the internship page ("blend your academic knowledge"), but no explicit enrollment, class-year or graduation-date requirement is published.
• GPA: not published. No GPA minimum appears on the careers page, the internship page, or any live requisition.
• Majors: not published as a list. The board's career areas (Finance, HR, IT, Legal, Marketing, Operations, Procurement, Production, Risk/Safety, Sales, Transportation, Warehouse) indicate the functional range but are not an eligibility statement.
• Work authorization: not stated. No sponsorship policy appears on any PFG careers surface.
• Geography: nationwide. The program offers corporate and field opportunities across 150+ locations. A Glassdoor intern interview report from Allen, TX confirms field placements outside Richmond.
Does PFG Have a Hard GPA Cutoff?
No. PFG does not publish any GPA requirement, and no live intern requisition exists to carry one. The board's 15 career areas suggest the program places broadly across functional domains, which further reduces the likelihood of a single GPA gate. When Summer 2027 postings appear, each requisition may carry its own requirements, so read the specific posting carefully.
What Skills Does Performance Food Group Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
PFG publishes almost nothing about what it looks for in interns. The internship page describes the program's structure and culture but names no specific skills, tools or technical requirements. No live intern requisition exists to carry a skills section, and prior-cycle intern job descriptions were not retrievable because the BrassRing ATS does not expose closed requisitions. What is clear from the program description is that PFG values food enthusiasm (the page opens with 'Are you a foodie?'), adaptability across a multi-segment business, and willingness to learn on the job. The interview questions reported by actual candidates reinforce this: PFG asks what you want to get out of the internship and what you would contribute to the team, not what tools you know.
Note: PFG's BrassRing ATS does not expose closed requisitions, and no Summer 2027 intern posting exists. This chart will be populated when intern requisitions go live.
How Is Demand for Supply Chain & Distribution Interns Moving Right Now?
Supply chain & distribution intern hiring right now: September 2026
Across US foodservice distribution and supply chain intern postings tracked this month · aggregate market data, all employers
September 2026 tracking shows sustained demand for operations-literate candidates in foodservice distribution. The companies that move $60B+ of food annually need the same analytical and logistics talent that tech supply chains recruit, and the competition for that talent is real.
Method: aggregate analysis of US foodservice distribution and supply chain intern postings, September 2026. Sample indexes under half of all US postings; figures show direction and relative level, not total market share.
Build These Skills Before You Apply
While no PFG intern requisition is posted yet, the functional areas the program spans map directly to remote Externships where you finish a real company project before the window opens.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Operations & distribution | Warehouse, Transportation, Production career areas: distribution-center throughput, productivity standards, multi-site logistics | Amazon Fulfillment Center Operational Strategy |
| Sales & data analysis | Sales, Procurement, Finance career areas: territory analysis, margin management, audience and channel performance reporting | Breaking Games E-Commerce Data Analysis |
| Corporate strategy & multi-segment exposure | PFG's pitch is breadth across Foodservice, Convenience and Specialty segments with ten divisions. Strategy work that spans business units. | Corporate Strategy Externship mentored by Eric Ries |
PFG's own signature interview question is 'what are you looking to get out of the internship.' A completed Externship gives you a structured answer backed by a dated, sponsor-backed project, which carries further than coursework when the posting finally appears.
What Is the Performance Food Group Application and Interview Process Like?
PFG's intern interview process is fast and conversational. Based on first-hand Glassdoor reports from intern candidates (difficulty rated 2.3 out of 5, experience rated 100% positive):
1. Apply at pfgc.com/Careers/internship-program when a posting goes live. The pre-filtered search on that page covers all PFG divisions. Applications route into IBM BrassRing.
2. Phone screen (round 1). An initial screening call with HR. One candidate reported HR reaching out six days after the online application for a 20-minute call.
3. Two senior leader interviews (rounds 2 and 3). Conducted over Zoom or WebEx. Questions focus on motivation and fit, not technical skills. Reported questions include 'What are you looking to get out of the internship?' and 'What would you contribute to the team?'
4. Offer. Glassdoor puts average intern time-to-hire at 12 days across four submitted interviews, against 15 days company-wide. One candidate described the entire process fitting inside a week.
The process is notably friendlier than PFG's company-wide average: 100% of intern candidates rated the experience positive on Glassdoor, versus 58.7% company-wide. Even candidates who did not receive an offer described the process positively.
What the Community Says
Reddit has no usable PFG internship discussion. A search for 'Performance Food Group internship' returned only trucking, warehouse and restaurant-customer threads. The cards below draw on first-hand Glassdoor intern interview reports, where PFG's employer ID (EI_IE2402) was confirmed on the returned page.
The one PFG intern candidate on record who accepted an offer describes a three-round process at the Richmond headquarters: a phone screen followed by two senior-leader video interviews, wrapped up inside a week. Glassdoor's aggregate across four intern candidates puts the average at twelve days from application to hire, against fifteen days company-wide.
The question this successful candidate singled out was not technical: PFG asked what they were looking to get out of the internship. Other reported questions, 'What would you contribute to the team?' and 'Why did you choose your school and major?', are cut from the same cloth. Intern candidates rate the difficulty 2.3 out of 5 and the experience 100% positive.
Two of the three detailed reports are from candidates who did not get an offer, and both are positive: one described HR reaching out within six days for a twenty-minute call at the Allen, Texas location and called the experience pleasant; the other said PFG 'take the time to make sure you will be a good fit for the company and for the role itself.'
How Do You Stand Out at a Company Most Students Have Never Heard Of?
Three moves, all executable before the postings go live. First, know what PFG actually is. It is a Fortune 100 company with $67.8 billion in fiscal 2026 net sales, three segments (Foodservice, Convenience, Specialty), over 44,000 associates and 350,000+ customer locations, and its brands (Vistar, Core-Mark, Cheney Brothers) are more recognizable to the industry than the parent name. Saying that in an interview instantly separates you from candidates who Googled 'PFG' the night before. Second, prepare your answer to PFG's signature question: what are you looking to get out of this internship? That is the question the one accepted-offer candidate singled out on Glassdoor, and it is cut from motivational cloth, not technical. Third, decide corporate versus field before you apply. Corporate sits in Richmond; field sits in one of 150+ distribution centers. The requisition determines your location, so read the posting carefully and have a reasoned preference.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
PFG's peer set spans broadline foodservice distributors and large-scale food and retail supply chain companies that recruit from the same candidate pool.
- Syscothe #1 broadline foodservice distributor and PFG's direct competitor; larger campus recruiting presence and more documented intern programGuide →
- US Foodsthe other member of the broadline big three; head-to-head with PFG's Foodservice segmentGuide →
- Dollar Generaldifferent retail model but the same distribution-and-logistics intern proposition at Fortune 500 scaleGuide →
- McLane Companythe closest competitor to PFG's Convenience segment (Core-Mark, Vistar); comparable convenience-store supply chain scaleCareers site
- Gordon Food Servicelarge privately held broadline distributor with a well-regarded early-careers program; the private-company alternative students weigh against PFGCareers site
Our supply chain internships guide maps the full landscape of distribution and logistics opportunities, timeline by timeline.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Performance Food Group internship?
No. The summer 2026 cycle has concluded. The next opportunity is summer 2027. As of September 2026, PFG's internship program page is live but no Summer 2027 intern requisitions have been posted on either of its job boards. Create a BrassRing profile at pfgc.com and watch the pre-filtered intern search on the internship page.
How long is the PFG internship and is it paid?
Eleven weeks, over the summer, and paid. PFG states this twice on its internship page. It does not publish an hourly rate, and neither Indeed nor Glassdoor carries one. Glassdoor's PFG intern salary page returns a 404.
Where are PFG internships located?
Both at the Richmond, Virginia headquarters at 12500 West Creek Parkway and in the field, across more than 150 PFG locations nationwide. Intern interview reports on Glassdoor come from Richmond, VA and Allen, TX. The specific requisition determines your location.
What is the PFG intern interview process like?
Three rounds and fast. A candidate who accepted an offer described an initial phone screen followed by two senior leader interviews over Zoom or WebEx, all completed inside a week. Glassdoor puts the average intern time-to-hire at 12 days. Intern candidates rate the difficulty 2.3 out of 5 and the experience 100% positive.
What questions does PFG ask in intern interviews?
Motivation and fit questions, not technical ones. Reported by actual candidates: 'What are you looking to get out of the internship?', 'What would you contribute to the team?', and 'Why did you choose your school and major?' The emphasis is on self-awareness and cultural fit.
What GPA or major does PFG require?
PFG publishes neither. No GPA minimum and no major list appears on any PFG careers surface. The board's 15 career areas, from Finance and IT to Sales and Warehouse, indicate the functional range the program can place into.
Which PFG companies host interns?
The internship page's application link spans Performance Foodservice, Cheney Brothers, Core-Mark, Vistar, PFG Customized, PFG Specialty, Performance Redistribution, PFG Manufacturing, Afflink, and Mountain Manufacturing. The pre-filtered search covers all divisions at once.
Do PFG interns get full-time offers?
PFG publishes no conversion rate and makes no return-offer claim anywhere in its internship marketing. The stated outcomes are on-the-job training, a mentor, cohort events and additional opportunities to learn and grow. Ask about conversion directly in your senior-leader interview rounds.
PFG's Summer 2027 postings are not live yet, but the 11-week program is real and permanently documented. Spend the runway building proof: a remote Externship gives you a finished operations or strategy project and a structured answer to PFG's signature question before the posting window opens.
About the Author
Bifei Wang has spent 17 years focused on human flow and the growth of young professionals, spanning international education, career training and coaching, and recruitment process outsourcing. Over 7 years at Extern, he has had one-on-one sessions with thousands of students exploring careers in consulting, finance, tech, marketing, and data, giving him a firsthand view of how the job market has shifted for early-career professionals and what it actually takes to break in.
