GLEN ALLEN, VA (September 27, 2012)—Bell Foods in Harahan, La. has joined Legacy Foodservice Alliance as the 100th distributor member location.
In 2009, Legacy Foodservice Alliance established themselves as the first new distributor group in years. By December, seven charter members joined the organization, and three months later twelve distributors met to sign a “Declaration of Independents,” founding the new distributor procurement and marketing group that promised a new way of doing business. A short three years later, membership is 100 strong. CEO Steve Push attributes the group’s rapid growth to its business model based on transparency and cooperation.
To play up the milestone event, Legacy created a contest that allowed suppliers and distributors to guess the effective date of the new-member signing. An enthusiastic response generated hundreds of entries. The supplier that correctly identified the date will be rewarded with a monetary contribution made in the supplier’s name to the non-profit they select. For submitting the winning guess from the distributor community, one lucky member will be rewarded with a significant contribution into their incentive trip account. Both winners will be announced at Legacy's Fall Marketplace in October.
Servicing the New Orleans and Gulf South region, Bell Foods is co-owned by John Bellini, chief operations officer, and Shane Nicaud, director of sales and marketing. “We believe in Legacy’s philosophy of nurturing intimate relationships with their members,” says Bellini. “This is what we’ve established in our own business, among our salespeople and our warehouse personnel, so we know it works.”
Legacy’s emphasis on developing its membership from both sides – distributor and supplier – is the basis for much of the group’s success, Push says, “We want to thank all of our supporters who took the risk early on to stand with us. We’re proud that we’ve reached 100 distributor member locations in only three years. It’s truly been a great team effort.”
Legacy will celebrate the milestone at its Fall Marketplace, October 1-3, at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor.
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