Greetings all and I hope this finds everyone gutting out the end of the horrible winter.
Well, one of the longtime ethnic distributors in our area is no longer. La Cena Fine Foods in Saddle Brook, NJ was acquired by Diaz Foods at the beginning of the year ending a 51 year run by the Puig family.
La Cena Foods, (formerly Vincente Puig & Co.) was founded by Don Vicente Puig in Cuba in 1923 and grew to be one of the larger Cuban food industry firms. In 1960, after the Cuban revolution, Don Vicente and his son Vicente Puig moved to the United States and were faced with starting all over. In 1963 they moved into a 3,000 square foot loft in Brooklyn and began their new venture. Quick positive results necessitated a move to a 12,000 square foot location in the Bronx and by just 1970 even a bigger facility was needed and they firm moved to East Rutherford, NJ. In 1974 the company settled into their headquarters and offices in Saddle Brook, producing and/or distributing such notable brands as La Cena, Victorina and Casa Real.
Diaz Foods president and CEO Rene Diaz said, “La Cena offers the perfect complement to the brands that Diaz Foods already carries. Introducing the La Cena family of brands and expanding the distribution area will allow us to continue to offer superior products and service to all of our customers, including the customers in the New England region.”
Diaz Foods will be introducing the La Cena family of brands into its existing distribution points throughout 24 states. With the addition of La Cena to the Diaz family, Diaz Foods will now be distributing to 28 states. At the same time, Diaz will introduce its offerings, approximately 5,000 SKUs, into the New England area. Further, Diaz Foods will focus on increasing La Cena’s brand to include new items, products, and pack sizes. Atlanta based Diaz Foods has more than 34 years of experience and was formed in 1980. It is one of the largest distributors of Hispanic products in the United States and offers more than 6,000 products. With more than 7,000 points of distribution and call centers in Atlanta, Georgia and Puebla, Mexico, Diaz Foods maintains close to 500,000 square feet of warehouse space along the East coast. The Diaz Family of companies includes Tortillas de Casa, International Imports, and Diaz Produce, with sales offices in Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Kudos to all at Stop & Shop (Metro NY and New England) and their 395 stores operating throughout New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, as it was recently announced that their charitable donations made in 2014 totaled more than $29 million in combined cash and product contributions from customers, vendors and associates. As part of its ongoing better neighbor and responsible retailing efforts, Stop & Shop committed to support organizations that help eradicate hunger and improve the quality of life for children throughout the communities it serves.
“These efforts underscore Stop & Shop’s commitment to the communities we serve,” said Don Sussman, president of Stop & Shop New York Metro and New England Divisions. “We are proud that the programs we support make a difference in the areas of healthy living, community well-being and care for the environment.”
Stop & Shop recognizes the important role it can play in hunger relief efforts and in 2014 donations to regional food bank partners and local pantries accounted for 49.5 percent or $14.8 million of the overall donations. Of the total hunger-related donation amount, approximately 86 percent came from safe consumable food donations, such as bakery items and frozen meat to regional food bank partners. With Stop & Shop’s “Meat the Needs” program, the grocer freezes meat that would otherwise go unsold, but is still safe to consume, and donates it to regional food bank partners. In 2014, a total of 3 million pounds of meat were diverted from landfills and onto the plates of those in need.
Stop & Shop customers, associates and vendors also came together to help donate hope and create miracles for children throughout its operating area by donating $4 million in support of local pediatric cancer hospitals and research organizations. Since 1990, Stop & Shop has raised more than $71 million for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts. Stop & Shop is also committed to helping kids in education with its A+ School Rewards program. More than 3,800 public and private schools received $2.5 million during the 2013-14 school year to fund scholarship programs, technology equipment and other educational needs. Since A+ School Rewards launched in 2008, more than $9.6 million has been donated to local schools.
In addition to its efforts to fight hunger and help kids, Stop & Shop donated to American Cancer Society Making Strides for breast cancer awareness, Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF), Support Our Troops and more. In addition, Stop & Shop committed more than $5.5 million in contributions to local community groups and various nonprofit organizations throughout its market area, impacting tens of thousands of individuals and families. Well done all at Stop & Shop!!
We were saddened to learn that Jim Gamba of TryAngle Foods in Norwell, MA passed away following complications from open heart surgery at the age of 65. Many knew Jim from his years at the old Almac’s company where he was VP of meat and deli. After leaving Almac’s he went to TryAngle Foods where he was the IT director for the last 20 years. The family asks that any memorial contributions in his name be made to The Jimmy Fund, 10 Brookline Place West-6th Floor Brookline, MA 02284.
Big news came to the offices of E.A. Berg Associates when it was announced that they had been appointed to represent the Kraft Food line of products at retail in the Metro New York/New Jersey market. Berg will represent all of the Kraft Brands such as Kraft & Velveeta, Polly-O, Cracker Barrel, Breakstone, Philly Cream Cheese, Oscar Mayer, Jello, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Planters, A.1. Sauce and Stove Top just to name a few. Glen Brown, EVP-retail for E.A. Berg, will be the point person on the account.
We heard from longtime friend and CFA president Stan Sorkin, who told us that he has informed the Connecticut Food Association of his plan to retire at the end of this year. The CFA represents the interests of the state’s multi-billion dollar grocery industry with a focus on government and trade relations. Under Stan’s leadership, the association solidified its financial condition, expanded its membership base, developed a pro-active legislative agenda, and enhanced the profile of the industry in the eyes of the legislature and state agencies.
CFA chairman John Stobierski of Stop & Shop has formed a search committee to find a qualified individual to lead the association and build on the progress made over the past eight years.
The candidate must have required skills/abilities in the following areas: government relations with oversight for lobbying and representation before legislature, state departments and agencies; strategic planning; administrative and financial management; written and verbal communications-serves as industry spokesperson to the media. Ideal candidate possesses working knowledge of state government as well as the grocery/retail industry and/or consumer products field. Salary is commensurate with experience. Résumés should be accompanied by a cover letter advocating a candidate’s qualifications and will be accepted through April17, 2015 via email to [email protected].
For additional information, contact Stan Sorkin at [email protected] or 860.216.0461.
Stan also tells us that April 21 will be the CFA’s Hall of Fame Dinner at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, CT. This year’s inductees will be Dan Brock of Bozzuto’s and Dan Tegolini of Guida’s Dairy.
And while we are up in the Nutmeg State, way to go to everyone involved at Bozzuto’s for putting together one of the best selling shows on the East Coast. Michael Bozzuto, George Motel, Steve Heggelke and the entire Bozzuto team do not miss a detail in ensuring that their customers, vendors and all attendees are treated like dignitaries while at the event which was held at the Foxwoods Casino & Resort. Kudos to all!!
It was nice to hear that Rich Powers has landed a job with Bickel’s Snacks as director of sales- Metro NY. Rich was the longtime sales manager with Wise Snacks in the New York area, but when the company went through an ownership change, he was unfortunately left without a position. The former NJFC Max Stone Award recipient was eager to get back to work and is now ready to bring the Bickel’s line of branded and private label snack foods to the area.
A local hotdog favorite is gearing up for what it hopes will be a big summer season. Marathon Enterprises Inc. (dba Sabrett) has a host of new activities and products for the coming season. First, Sabrett made a switch in representation and is now at Bob Cignarella’s big perishable brokerage, RDD Associates. Re-sized family packages of hotdogs, hamburgers and natural casing franks will now be handled at RDD, as well as an extensive line of condiments. Also new at Sabrett’s is a new national sales manager, John Tuttle. John comes to Sabrett’s with a vast level of experience with packaged meats and perishable foods most notably from his days at Hillshire/Kahn’s and Sara Lee Foods. Best wishes, John. And while we are mentioning RDD Associates, the firm also picked a new line in the area, Comfy House Foods. Comfy House manufactures authentic Mexican dips, salsa and guacamole products as well as a number of natural, organic and vegan products that are sold in dairy, deli and produce.
The Key Food staff once again put together a stellar selling show, and this time it was at a new locale. Resorts World Casino in South Ozone Park (the Aqueduct racetrack) is really a spectacular venue and offered a nice change of pace from the recent Key Food shows held at the Crest Hollow Country Club. Show coordinator Wayne Kovacs always seems to be on the hook to “raise the bar” a little bit higher with each show and his team and all of the Key Food HQ staff really did a terrific job of meeting those expectations once again and delivering a top notch show for their members and vendors.
And as we were getting ready to go to press, word came from the White Plains offices of Krasdale Foods and Alpha 1 Marketing that they had added more than 40 stores in 2014 and 10 more since the start of 2015.
The bulk of the new stores are under the C-Town, Bravo and Market Fresh banners, and the balance are independents utilizing the AIM program to support their own banner. Many more stores are expected for the rest of 2015 and we will update you with them when we learn of the details.
Here’s hoping that with spring coming this week we are DONE with the cold and on to better weather, better business and better fortunes. See you all out and about and you can reach me at 201.250.2217 or [email protected]