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Distributors, Suppliers Meet Face-to-Face in Summit’s ABX
AWMA distributor members and top executives of some 32 supplier companies met face-to-face in a series of private meetings Wednesday during the AWMA Business Exchange (ABX), which continues today in Lake Las Vegas, NV as the annual AWMA Summit & Business Exchange draws to a conclusion.
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Eric Atkinson and Jed Ventura from Atkinson Candy Company.
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"We have 15 meetings with manufacturers scheduled over these two days, and we’re getting a great deal accomplished," reported George Naumann, owner and chief operating officer, Renfro Supply, Williamsburg, KY. He and Burley McFarland, fellow owner and chief financial officer, by lunch time on Wednesday said they already had brought several issues of concern to "upper management" of supplier companies and were happy with the results.
"We have more than paid for our trip out here already," McFarland said, "and we’re really just getting started."
Dot Foods, Inc. was one of five supplier companies with two ABX suites running concurrently, and Mike Duggan, vice president of sales, said both were booked with meetings solid both days from 7:15 a.m. until 5 p.m. "We like to be able to be in one spot and see a lot of customers," he explained, noting that Dot Foods brought a team of seven people to support the effort.
"Number one, we want to find out how our service is," Duggan said. "Then, we try to find out what additional product lines to bring in to help the distributors out. We also want to get a better understanding of the industry, how people are going to market, and what the trends are. This format works out very well. We also talk to our customers about our new product lines so we can bring them up to speed on that."
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Kraft Foods meets with Dot Foods, Inc.
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Mike Jones, president, and Ricky Jones, vice president, operations, Andalusia Distributing Co., Inc., Andalusia, AL, said their ABX meetings with suppliers were proving to be fruitful as well. "If you go in there with the right attitude that we’re both sharing information, that’s when these are successful," Mike Jones said. "There are things we need to inform them of, and the same goes for them. It works both ways."
Ricky Jones, AWMA Chairman, credited manufacturers with being well prepared and providing share numbers and other information needed to make decisions. "We’re the principals of the business," he said. "We don’t actually purchase the product, so we’re learning how well we’re doing with those manufacturers. We wouldn’t normally get some of that information."
"All of this helps us work closer together with their top people," said Elvin Smythers, Merchants Grocery Co., Culpeper, VA. "We can bring our issues to them in these one-to-one meetings, and they hear us. I heard one vendor say this is the best thing that AWMA has ever done."
"This is an extremely productive meeting," Diane Drake, purchasing director at Finkle Distributors, Inc., Johnstown, NY, said. "You can sit one-on-one with people you don’t normally see—higher level executives of major manufacturing companies—and they can hear about the good things we are doing and we can work on problems. I look forward to these meetings every year."
Danielle Barker, marketing director at Finkle Distributors was attending her second ABX. "It is great to see the new products that they are bringing to market, and to meet the executives so we can put a face to the names that we know."
Suppliers, likewise, said they appreciate the efficiency of the ABX and the amount of business that can be conducted in a very short period of time. "This is very productive," said Dave Fleischer, Cadbury Adams USA. Dave Onorato, The Hershey Company, agreed. "It gives us an opportunity to sit down with our distributor partners and understand what’s happening in their world, what’s important. We can work together to build our business and make it better."
Tim Kerber, regional sales manager for General Mills in the Western U.S., said it was his first ABX, and he was just getting started. "This is better than I anticipated," he said. "There are good questions going both ways being discussed. These meetings are extremely productive."
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