Labatt Food Service is First Time Recipient of IFMA Excellence in Distribution Award
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
On Wednesday, September 19, 2007 it was announced that Labatt Food Service would be awarded the inaugural IFMA Excellence in Distribution Award. IFMA (International Foodservice Manufacturers Association) is the most recognized and largest manufacturer association in the foodservice industry.
The award program recognizes leadership and overall excellence by a foodservice distributor setting the highest standards within the industry.
To qualify for the award, distributor organizations are nominated by IFMA members representing many leading food manufacturing companies. The evaluating committee bases its selection on the organization they feel best demonstrates excellence in all of the following categories: Management and Leadership, Customer Relations, Supplier Relations, and Industry/Community Contributions. Labatt was chosen for this honor above all other nominated distributors.
"This industry-wide recognition by Labatt's manufacturer partners makes a significant affirmation to our industry and the community at large about Labatt's overall excellence in distribution and the way we do business," said Blair Labatt Jr, President. "We are deeply honored to be the first company to receive this award from IFMA. We thank all the stakeholders who have supported us as our company has grown from small beginnings -- the branded suppliers who have given us this award, the loyal customers who have embraced our philosophy of distribution, and especially the great people from operations to sales to information technology who have all worked together to build a company."
The announcement from IFMA described Labatt Food Service as follows: "Labatt Food Service is the winner of the IFMA Excellence in Distribution Award, which honors a company that has demonstrated excellence in management and leadership, customer relations, supplier relations, and industry/community contributions. Labatt Food Service maintains a strong leadership and business ethic, and in its quest to be each customer's primary distributor, forms long-term, partnering relationships with customers. The company employs innovative systems tailored to each customer's business needs and uses sophisticated technology and logistics to reduce distribution costs and lower customers' purchasing costs. Labatt carries 100 percent national manufacturer brands and was the first to provide customer business reviews. The company has developed ongoing sales training and a successful mentoring program for distributor sales reps."
A formal award presentation will be held at IFMA's Presidents Conference in November.
ABOUT LABATT FOOD SERVICE
Labatt Food Service is a privately held company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is a wholesale food distributor supplying all segments of the food-awayfrom-home industry - restaurants, hotels, schools, universities, military bases, and quick-service. Labatt dates its origins to 1910, and its organization as Labatt Food Service to the time of the San Antonio Hemisfair of 1968. Since 1981 its sales revenues have increased from $7 million to approaching $700 million. It operates from warehouses in San Antonio, Dallas, Lubbock, and Houston, and supplies customers from the Texas Rio Grande Valley to Oklahoma. Labatt is estimated to be in the top ten nationally in sales volume among broadline foodservice distributors. The CEO of Labatt is Blair Labatt Jr, who follows two previous generations of Labatts in the leadership of the company.
(FOR LUBBOCK PRESS RELEASE)
In July of 2005 Labatt opened its third distribution center at 5824 Elm Avenue in Lubbock. This 70,684 sq. ft. facility services West Texas and parts of New Mexico.
(FOR DALLAS PRESS RELEASE)
Labatt has operated in Dallas since 1989 from a distribution center at 650 Regal Row. An expansion in 2003 increased the facility to 203,000 sq. ft.
(FOR HOUSTON PRESS RELEASE)
In 2007 Labatt opened its fourth distribution center, a 147,866 sq. ft. facility at 6650 Pine Vista Lane in Houston.
ABOUT IFMA
IFMA is a leading trade association comprising more than 400 of the world's most prestigious food, equipment and supply manufacturers in the $632 billion foodservice industry, as well as related marketing service organizations, foodservice trade publications, distributors and brokers. IFMA's mission is to shape the future of foodservice by creating an environment for positive change and actionable solutions benefiting manufacturers and their foodservice channel partners. IFA is a broad-based, total-industry association whose core values focus on innovation through products and technology; forecasting and facilitating through research, education and events; marketing and sales solutions through customer relations and initiatives; and alliances and customer alignment through foodservice trade organizations and supply chain partners.
