Year: 2023

SpartanNash Acquires Great Lakes Foods

January 6, 2023 SpartanNash

Food solutions company SpartanNash announced that it has acquired Great Lakes Foods, an independent grocery wholesaler, including its 300,000-square-foot distribution center in Menominee, Mich. The warehouse serves approximately 100 independent grocery customers across the Midwest and employs 125 Associates. SpartanNash will continue to employ the Great Lakes Foods team while investing in capital and IT updates to the facility and expanding service offerings to customers. …

KeHE Announces New President & CEO Deb Conklin

January 6, 2023 KeHE Distributors,

KeHE Distributors today announced that as part of an ongoing succession process, Deb Conklin will become KeHE’s President & CEO on April 1, 2023 and Brandon Barnholt will move into the Executive Chairman role. Mr. Barnholt, who turns 65 in April, has been the company’s President & CEO for fifteen years and helped lead the company through a time of extraordinary growth. During his tenure, KeHE expanded from a Midwest Specialty Distributor to the largest pure play Distributor of Specialty, Natural, Organic and Fresh products in North America including the acquisition of Tree of Life, Nature’s Best and Monterrey Provisions. …

BrandSpark International Announces 5th Annual Most Trusted Grocery Retailers in America

January 6, 2023 BrandSpark International

BrandSpark International announces the fifth annual grocery edition of its BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards, as voted by American shoppers. BrandSpark surveyed 10,082 Americans in the BrandSpark American Grocery Trust Study to capture their real opinions of which grocery stores they trust the most. …

Fresh Innovations California Wins Coveted Joe Nucci Award in Industry Vote

January 6, 2023 PRODUCE BUSINESS Magazine

In an industry-wide vote of its peers, Fresh Innovations California clinched the 2022 coveted Joe Nucci Award for Product Innovation in Service of Expanding Consumption of Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, announced at the 13th Annual New York Produce Show on Dec. 1 at the Jacob Javits Center. …

Produce Industry Great, Ron Carkoski, Passed Away on January 5, 2023

January 6, 2023 Four Seasons Produce, Inc.

Longtime produce industry great, Ron Carkoski, passed away at the age of 69 surrounded by his family on January 5, 2023.  Ron was known as a strong leader with a big heart, for his sense of humor and musical talent, and as someone who made an impact on lives and careers of so many. …