ID NEWS: Rick Abraham to head new sales agent association

WASHINGTON, DC-Rick Abraham, vice president of industry affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA), will leave GMA to assume leadership of the newly-formed Foodservice Sales and marketing Association (FSMA).

FSMA is a self-standing association of foodservice sales agents, separate from GMA, whose aim is to bolster relations up and down the distribution pipeline (ID Report 11/21/03). GMA has put its support behind the newly-formed organization, which will be officially unveiled at the manufacturer association's annual Top to Top meeting in Phoenix, February 18-20.

"For many years, the foodservice agency community has been part of larger retail-focused trade associations," Abraham comments. "We created FSMA as a stand-alone, 100% foodservice-focused sales agency trade association to better focus on the issues important to foodservice sales agency members."

Operational as of Jan. 1, 2004, FSMA's mission is to be the national voice of the foodservice sales agency community, to advocate on behalf of sales agency interests and to enhance relationships among manufacturers, agencies, customers and other key stakeholders in the foodservice industry.

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