IRVINE, Calif. — Golden State Foods (GSF), one of the largest diversified suppliers to the foodservice industry, recently awarded their annual 2018 Chairman’s Challenge award for outstanding facility achievement in safety, customer service, employee satisfaction, efficiencies, profitability and innovation. This year’s award went to GSF’s subsidiary company, KanPak in Penn Yan, NY. Recognized as GSF’s highest internal honor, the annual award was presented to the KanPak team at Golden State Foods’ Global Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
For the Chairman’s Challenge Award, the KanPak Penn Yan team was recognized for demonstrating outstanding performance in a number of significant areas, including these few key accomplishments:
- Earned outstanding scores on third-party audits and customer satisfaction surveys;
- Supported both customer and business growth plans to flex capacity delivering high quality product;
- Achieved more than 300 days without a recordable injury;
- Outstanding associate participation in the GSF Foundation, resulting in nearly 120,000 meals provided, and 800 backpacks donated to children in four school districts as they continued to support the less fortunate in their community;
- Exceeded their financial plan and improved against prior year performance.
“This is the first time that a KanPak facility has earned the Chairman’s Challenge Award, and it gives me so much pride to see this team succeed,” said Mark Wetterau, chairman and chief executive officer, Golden State Foods. “The accomplishments of this team are a direct result of thoughtful succession planning, mentoring next generation leaders in the company, and ultimately ensuring the right people are in the right positions to succeed for our valued customers.”
“It’s an incredible honor to accept the 2018 Chairman’s Challenge Award on behalf of the hard- working associates who made this possible at KanPak,” said Ryan Mitchell, general manager for KanPak in Penn Yan. “I started with KanPak as an associate on the manufacturing floor, working my way up to General Manager, so I know that it takes every person at every level working towards the same goal to be successful – and that’s exactly what KanPak did to earn this award.”
In addition to the Chairman’s Challenge Award, “Best in Class” awards were distributed in two categories for Quality Custom Distribution (QCD), and Food Processing. The winners for these categories were QCD in Waipahu, Hawaii and KanPak in Penn Yan. The Chairman’s Challenge winner is determined each year from these candidates.
About Golden State Foods
Golden State Foods is one of the largest diversified suppliers to the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry. Established in 1947, the company is values-based with proven performance in superior quality, innovation and customer service throughout the QSR industry. GSF services more than 120,000 stores in more than 40 countries on five continents. Its core businesses include processing of liquid products, protein, produce, dairy and full-line logistics services to the foodservice, QSR, retail and C-store industries. The company also runs the GSF Foundation, a national non-profit organization to help children and families in need. For more information, please visit: www.goldenstatefoods.com
About KanPak U.S.
KanPak U.S. is a leading supplier of beverages and desserts using aseptic processing technology, servicing the quick service restaurant (QSR), convenience store and retail food industry. Headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, the company has operations in Kansas, New York, Connecticut, Canada, and China. KanPak produces a variety of dairy and coffee-based products, such as iced and cold brew coffee, ice cream, yogurt and frozen dessert products, milk shake bases, packaged milk and creamers and specialty beverages. Some of its customers include Whataburger, Chick-fil-A, Tim Hortons, 7-Eleven, Wawa and Speedway. Its state-of-the-art facilities include manufacturing plants in Arkansas City, Kansas; Penn Yan, New York; Xiantao, Hubei Province, China, an equipment dispensing plant in Southbury, Connecticut and offices in Wichita, Kansas and Toronto, Canada. For more information, please visit: http://kanpak.us.
