Restaurant supply chains could be improved by investing in local farmers. Less time and energy spent on transport enables fresher food; and the local money multiplier is a goood thing too. I'm working on something aimed at this.
In LA at least, this is common among high end restaurants. Certain chefs have relationships with specific farmers, or they have food buyers select the best produce at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. I suspect most restaurants just buy from normal distributors because it's cheaper though.
I've also noticed this with better restaurants. I think specialist buyers and distributors will continue to serve a role; and so will farmers' markets. But my thought is it's better when shareholders buy-in for a season. The farmer gets more operating capital up-front and spends less time on sales during the harvest, because distributions can be figured out ahead of time.