2011 Summer Fancy Food Show - Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2011 www.gourmetnews.com specialty Distributors & Brokers 15
briefs
UNFI, Safeway
announce three-year
distribution deal
Leading natural food distributor United
Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) signed a threeyear
agreement with Safeway in late July.
Effective Oct. 31, UNFI will assume distribution
for non-proprietary natural, organic
and specialty products to all of Safeway’s
banners in the U.S. UNFI projects expect a
rise in revenues by approximately 4 percent
in fiscal 2012 as a result of the contract.
“We are pleased to establish a distribution
relationship with Safeway and
are excited about the opportunities this
agreement provides,” commented Sean
Griffin, UNFI Senior Vice President, National
Distribution. “Our ability to continue to gain
market share reflects the ongoing efforts
by all of our associates to service our customers’
needs and further strengthens our
position as the nation’s leading distributor
of natural, organic and specialty products.
We are in the process of finalizing a transition
plan with Safeway in order to provide
them with excellent service levels and support,
while ensuring there are no disruptions
to any of our existing customers.”
“We are looking forward to our new partnership
with UNFI to provide the variety of
specialty, natural, organic and regionally
relevant products that will meet our customers’
needs,” said Kelly Griffith, Safeway’s
President of Merchandising.
UNFI expects to incur approximately
$1.5 million to $2.5 million in total start-up
expenses to transition the business.
Port Jersey
Logistics offers
lower costs,
reduced
transit time
Port Jersey Logistics, a warehousing and
distribution company that serves the specialty
food industry, has launched a lessthan-truckload
(LTL) freight consolidation/
pool distribution program to New England.
The service offers more efficiency and
less cost for shippers, whose orders can
travel north together from the company’s
New Jersey warehouse before being
separated and delivered independently.
Additional regions will be added throughout
the year, with a goal of providing a national
consolidation program by early 2012.
Pool distribution allows consolidated
orders to be shipped to a regional terminal,
where the shipment is separated and
re-sorted by destination, saving customers
significant cost compared to direct LTL shipping.
Other benefits include reduced transit
times, reduced claim potential due to less
overall handling, and maintained shipment
and temperature integrity.
In August, the company was named
among the Top 100 third party logistics forwarders
by a logistics industry publication.
Cheeseworks now known as CWI Specialty Foods
BY ROCELLE ARAGON
From August 1 onward, bicoastal specialty
distributor Cheeseworks has been known as
CWI Specialty Foods, Inc.
The new name is just the first of many
changes ahead for the company in the next
year. “Our new name reflects our new
ownership, as well as a new beginning for
a company with a long history of being a
leader in importing, distributing, and marketing
quality cheese and other fine food
products,” said the company’s President and
CEO, Robert A. Sigel.
The company intends to build a new, more
forward-looking identity in tune with the
fast-moving specialty cheese market. Though
Cheeseworks already had strong product lines
in charcuterie, preserves and other products
from small, high quality manufacturers, Sigel
feels there is still room for growth.
“We want to expand our assortment in all
areas, including cheese. There are a lot of
opportunities opening up—regional dairies,
cheesemakers in Italy, France, Spain. Our
goal is to be the first person for manufacturers
to come to,” Sigel says.
BY ROCELLE ARAGON
Specialty foods distributor Sheila Marie
Imports closed permanently on Aug. 12,
ending 30 jobs and leaving the Massachusetts
facility it has occupied for 10 years. The closure
follows a 16-day strike led by Teamsters
Local Union No. 25, which ended with no
agreement or contract reached.
The strike was marked by violent incidents
and racial slurs on the picket line, and reportedly
cost the company more than $30,000 a
day in police protection. In a statement, SMI
owner Atlanta Foods said, “The Company is
unwilling to risk the safety of those employees
who have continued to work during the strike
and is unable to afford police protection to
continue operations.” SMI customers will
continue to be served from other Atlanta
Foods locations.
Local news site the North Reading Patch
reported 13 SMI workers on the picket line,
Harry Wils & Co., a Secaucus, N.J.-based
supplier of specialty foods to the restaurant
industry, in late July completed the sale of
the company to fellow specialty foodservice
distributor The Chef’s Warehouse. Operations
are now consolidated in the Chef’s Warehouse
facilities in the Bronx, NY.
Harry Wils, a family-owned business for
nearly 90 years, was led for the past 40 years
by president and CEO Steven Wils. Before
moving to Secaucus, the business was the last
remnant of the wholesale dairy district that
occupied what is now the upscale residential
area of Tribeca.
“As the industry consolidates, it’s in
everyone’s interest to have choices. Big
doesn’t always mean a better price, it can also
mean bigger overheads. We’re not looking at
growing to a size where we can’t serve our
customers with the focused attention they
need,” Sigel continues.
Those customers include independent
higher-end retailers, cheese shops and smaller
supermarket groups, as well as chains with the
appropriate specialty-buying demographics.
Siegel is a former principal of Millbrook
Distributors, a family company which he
helped to grow into a half-a-billion dollar
business before it was sold to UNFI in
2007. He joined the Cheeseworks board in
late 2007, becoming CEO and principal in
January of this year.
He is joined at CWI by a new handpicked
team: Director of Purchasing Carmen
Jackson, Director of Sales Anthony Zareck
and Director of Finance Joseph Alessio
are all veterans of the cheese and specialty
importing businesses.
With distribution facilities in Ringwood,
N.J. and Alameda, Calif., CWI Specialty sells
Specialty distributor Sheila Marie Imports closed
joined at one time by up to 80 teamsters.
A statement by the Union described the
strike as seeking a first contract covering
employment, wages and work conditions.
A commenter on the site, who identified
himself as a long-time SMI employee and
one of those on the picket line, said they
were striking to protect their hours from
being cut and assigned to lower-paid temporary
staff.
Also according to Atlanta Foods’ statement,
“Sheila Marie employs 37 people, including
approximately 17 drivers and warehouse
employees. In November of 2010, the
National Labor Relations Board conducted
an election among the drivers and warehouse
employees, and a majority of them voted to
be represented by Teamsters Local No. 25.
The Company bargained with the Union in
good faith to try and reach agreement on a
contract covering these employees. After
eleven meetings, the Company presented
the Union with its final offer on July 5, 2011.
Sheila Marie has sustained losses for the last
four to five years, and it offered the Union a
one-year contract which would have maintained
wages and benefits at current levels.
On July 13, 2011, the Union set up a picket
line and commenced its strike.”
Acquired by Atlanta Foods in 2007,
Sheila Marie Imports has been a leader in
the American artisanal cheese movement
for almost 20 years. Founder John Greeley
is credited with helping promote small New
England dairies and cheesemakers long
before the current trend, and with helping
them survive by introducing their products
to hundreds of outlets across the U.S.
A respected figure in the industry and recipient
of a Lifetime Achievement Award from
the American Cheese Society, Greeley will
remain with Atlanta Foods. gn
Harry Wils & Co. completes sale to Chef’s Warehouse
A 1996 New York Times article credits Mr.
Wils’ ability to source special ingredients—
and his round-the-clock presence in the
area—with helping start culinary trends in
several now-classic restaurants from the era,
such as Bouley and Lutece.
“Harry Wils was a strong, growing company
from beginning to end, which made it
an attractive acquisition candidate,” noted
Warren H. Feder, Partner at Carl Marks
Advisory Group, which advised Harry Wils &
Co. on the sale. “The Chef’s Warehouse gains
additional market share and further positions
itself as a leading specialty foods company both
a wide variety of high quality imported and
domestic cheeses, along with an extensive
offering of specialty food products to more
than 3,000 retailers and foodservice providers
throughout the U.S. According to its
Facebook page, the company carries more
than 2,500 products, working with some
600 suppliers from more than 37 countries.
It was founded in 1977. gn
in the New York Metro area and nationwide.
In turn, the owner of Harry Wils achieves
liquidity from a successful business at a time
that is right for him. It has been a positive
experience for both companies.”
“We are extremely pleased with the
results,” Steven Wils said. “We know The
Chef’s Warehouse will continue to serve our
customers and vendors well.”
Carl Marks provided strategic advice to the
company for the past 10 years. The firm assisted
Harry Wils in negotiating a favorable asset purchase
agreement, as well as with the transition
of operations to The Chef’s Warehouse. gn