2019 ‘Meet the Truck’ award recipients are rated on order fulfillment, trailer load, product integrity and overall performance
By Karen Holden
Quality assurance throughout the supply chain is top of mind for Avendra. It’s imperative that hoteliers’ purchasing requirements are being met by our approved suppliers. That’s why we’ve been conducting “Meet the Truck” audits at customer locations for the past 15 years. Not only does this program enable suppliers to improve their performance metrics and ultimately serve customers better, but it has become one of our customers’ most valued services in mitigating risks and ensuring peace of mind. It’s quality assurance programs like this that guarantees customers receive the correct products at a quality level and meet or exceed their expectations.
Here’s how the Meet the Truck program works: An Avendra Quality Assurance associate visits a customer location on a day when multiple deliveries are expected and conducts an audit at the time of delivery. Contracted suppliers are not informed of the audit in advance. Avendra suppliers are rated on order fulfillment, trailer load, product integrity and overall performance. Suppliers who do not receive a perfect score on the audit are provided feedback to help ensure their continued improvement. Suppliers who have deficiencies during their inspections must provide Avendra with written notice of their corrective action.
This program is one of many reasons why Avendra suppliers are considered among the best in the industry:
- Of the 850+ hospitality suppliers with which Avendra contracts, 237 scored 95 percent or better, and 250 received audit scores of 90 percent or better.
- To receive an Avendra Meet the Truck award, suppliers must participate in four or more audits in a 12-month period and receive an average score of at least 95 percent.
In 2019, Avendra’s Quality Assurance team conducted 1,444 Meet the Truck audits at 479 customer locations. These audits were in addition to the 782 supplier audits conducted at Avendra manufacturers’ and distributors’ facilities. As a result, 86 suppliers received the Avendra 2019 Meet the Truck award, naming them hospitality’s top performers.
Please join me in congratulating the following recipients:
Alpha Bakery – Lyndale
Baldor Specialty Foods, Inc.
Ben E. Keith – Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Berkeley Farms, LLC
Bix Produce Company
Cambridge Packing Co.
Charlie’s Produce
Charlie’s Produce – Portland OR
Chefs’ Warehouse – Maryland
Chefs’ Warehouse – New York
Chefs’ Warehouse – Northern California
Chefs’ Warehouse – Provvista
Chefs Warehouse Midwest
Coastal Sunbelt Produce Company
Collins Produce
Dean Dairy Holdings, LLC dba McArthur Dairy, LLC
Dean Dairy Holdings, LLC dba T.G. Lee Foods, LLC
Del Monte Meats (Port Seafood)
Del Monte Meats (San Francisco)
Downtown Produce
European Imports, Ltd.
Featherstone Foods, Inc.
FreshPoint-Atlanta
FreshPoint-Central Florida
FreshPoint-Dallas/Ft. Worth
FreshPoint-Denver
FreshPoint-Nashville
FreshPoint-San Antonio – South Texas
FreshPoint-Tampa
GFS – Atlantic
GFS – Calgary
GFS – Ontario
Gordon Food Service – Sheperdsville, KY
Gourmet Foods International – Northeast
Greenleaf Produce
Halperns’ – Ft. Lauderdale (Meat)
Halperns’ – Orlando (Meat)
Halperns’ – Atlanta (Meat)
Hardies Fresh Foods
Hardies Fresh Foods-Dallas
Highland Baking Co.
Interbay Food Company
J. Ambrogi Foods
J.J. McDonnell & Co., Inc.
K & M Meat Company Inc.
LA Specialty (Arizona Office)
Le Chef Bakery
Leonard Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Inc.
Louisiana Foods
M.F. Foley Co., Inc. dba Foley Fish Company
Masada Bakery
Meats by Linz, Inc
Metropolitan Meat, Seafood and Poultry
Northern Haserot
Northern Illinois Milk
Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors
Paul W. Marks Co.
Premier Produce, Inc.
Prestige Farms
ProFish
San Francisco Specialty Produce
Santa Monica Seafood
Shamrock – Denver, CO
Shamrock – Phoenix, AZ
Sid Wainer
Soft Stuff Distributors, Inc.
Southern Food Groups, LLC d/b/a Meadow Gold (Hawaii)
Supreme Lobster and Seafood
Testa Produce
US Foods – Albany, NY
US Foods – Allentown, PA
US Foods – Knoxville, TN
US Foods – Manassas
US Foods – Memphis
US Foods – Metro, NJ
US Foods – Milwaukee
US Foods – Montgomery, AL
US Foods – Plymouth
US Foods – Port Orange
US Foods – Roanoke, VA
US Foods – San Francisco, CA
US Foods – Seabrook
US Foods – Swedesboro, NJ
Wabash Seafood Co.
West Central Produce
Y. Hata & Co.
