Unilever announced that the VersaCold operations in Sikeston MO were awarded its 2009 Temperature-Controlled Quality and Excellence Distribution Center of the Year Award.
According to Karl Smith, manager of temperature-controlled and multi-vendor distribution centers for Unilever, selection for this annual award is based on “KPI performance, cost containment, and overall commitment to great customer service to Unilever and our customers.”
Brent Sugden, VersaCold chief executive officer, was on hand to receive the award on behalf of the company.
This award is a tribute to the late Larry Jones, former Sikeston general manager, who opened and managed the facility for 12 years. Jones died in June 2009 after 33 years with the company.
In other news, The Dannon Company Inc and Danone, Inc (Canada) recently hosted several business partners to award the third annual Dannon/Danone Supplier of the Year Awards. The VersaCold operations in Fort Worth TX and Anaheim CA were awarded the 2010 Supplier of the Year Award for Best in Quality during the awards luncheon. Marc Evans, general manager in Fort Worth; and Art Boehme, general manager in Anaheim, accepted the awards on VersaCold’s behalf.
Suppliers were assessed on criteria including improvements in environmental sustainability, quality and safety, improvements in cost, accelerating “time to market” of new or renovated products, boosts to innovation, protection of competitive advantage, and demonstration of shared values in the relationship with Dannon and Danone.
Award nominees were evaluated by a cross-functional taskforce at Dannon/Danone, and the final selection of Award winners was made by the company’s Executive Committee.
A total of eight awards were bestowed for excellence in the categories of Innovation, Goods & Services Marketing & Sales, Goods & Services Operations, Raw Materials and Packaging, Capital Investment, Best in Quality, Most Improved, and The Overall Supplier of the Year.
With 123 facilities worldwide, VersaCold provides temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics services in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. Its operations provide global refrigerated storage capacity of about 586 million cubic feet to food producers, processors, and wholesale and retail distributors. VersaCold also provides integrated refrigerated distribution services.
To find out more, visit www.versacold.com.
