IRVINE, Calif. — Golden State Foods (GSF), one of the largest diversified suppliers to the foodservice and retail industries, is pleased to announce the promotion of Shane Blanchette to Group Vice President, Continuous Improvement, Quality Custom Distribution (QCD). Based in Frisco, Texas, Blanchette now oversees QCD’s strategic continuous improvement initiatives, including warehouse and transportation operations, new facility builds, optimization projects, and quality standards to support strategic customer initiatives and overall growth.
“Shane brings a fresh, energetic approach to continuous improvement with his keen understanding of the operation and his solid partnership with our facility teams in the field,” said QCD’s Vice President, Logistics Stephen Wetterau. “His leadership is a great example of our Creed and Values, as he strives to make our associates’ jobs easier and our teams more effective for the benefit of our customers. Shane’s focus on ensuring our people are successful enables our customers’ success.”
A 25-year industry veteran and QCD associate since 2016, Shane has supported the company’s growth as an integral leader driving optimization and championing best practices across the U.S. network of distribution centers. In his previous QCD role as Senior Director, Operations, Shane led his team to continually improve processes, including leadership of the logistics operations hub, optimization of routing and facility layouts, and implementation of business intelligence to inform decision-making. In 2022, he traveled to GSF’s Cairo, Egypt facility to learn, partner, and support the GSF distribution team by sharing best practices and leadership.
As QCD’s Director of Customer Development from 2017-2020, Shane earned a 2019 Stellar Performance Award, GSF’s highest individual honor, for his expertise, knowledge, and leadership approach in cultivating key strategic partnerships with QCD customers, which led to significant business growth. He joined QCD Los Angeles as Senior Operations Manager with responsibility for monitoring and implementing performance initiatives, managing departmental financial results, and supporting a positive work culture for nearly 200 associates.
Prior to QCD, Shane led personnel and activities focused on sales, revenue, market performance, and strategic opportunities as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Quality Beverage (Auburn, Massachusetts). Earlier in his career, he held various beverage industry sales positions with Anheuser-Busch (Long Island City, New York) and New Hampshire Distributors (Concord, New Hampshire). Originally from the East Coast, Shane earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire).
About Golden State Foods
Golden State Foods (GSF), one of the largest diversified suppliers to the foodservice and retail industries, feeds one billion people every day! Headquartered in Irvine, California, the multi-national company is values-based with proven performance in superior quality, innovation, and customer service. Established in 1947, GSF and its family of companies currently service 200+ leading brands (125,000+ restaurants/stores in more than 50 countries) from its 50 locations on five continents. Its core businesses include: manufacturing of liquid products, protein, produce, dairy/aseptic, and provides custom distribution services. The company employs approximately 6,000 associates and is management-owned and run. Golden State Foods also operates a national non-profit organization, the GSF Foundation.
