U.S. Foodservice, one the United States’ largest broadline foodservice distributor, on Thursday announced the winners of its 2011 Vendor of the Year Awards, including three seafood companies.
During a ceremony, Aqua Star of Seattle was recognized for “superior performance in seafood,” while Trident Seafoods, also of Seattle, was recognized for “functional excellence in business friendliness” and Mariner Seafood of New Bedford, Mass., for “functional excellence in food safety and quality assurance.”
National Beef and PepsiCo Foodservice took top honors for vendor of the year in exclusive brands and manufacturer’s brand, respectively.
More than 60 U.S. Foodservice divisions and support offices participate in the selection process. Vendors were evaluated on seven important criteria: sales growth, gross margin improvement, divisional sales and merchandising support, food safety and product quality, logistics, national account support and business friendliness.
“These vendors are critical to our mission of providing the highest quality products and services to more than 250,000 customers around the country,” said Pietro Satriano, chief merchandising officer for U.S. Foodservice, which is based in Rosemont, Ill. “We congratulate every vendor nominated for their daily contributions and hard work. Together we will continue to make it easy to do business with us and grow the value we bring to our customers.”
