Nutro Wins Top Award at PIDA Conference
Nutro Products Inc. (City of Industry, Calif.) was named Supplier
of the Year during the Pet Industry Distributors Association’s
annual meeting and management conference, held Feb. 9-12 in
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Coastal Pet Products Inc. (Alliance, Ohio)
was first runner-up for the prestigious award, and Midwest Homes
for Pets (Muncie, Ind.) was second runner-up.
According to Steven King, executive vice president of PIDA
(Bel Air, Md.), suppliers were cited in four categories of
achievement:
- Best sales staff/field support: Nutro
Products. Midwest Homes for Pets and Super Pet (Elk Grove
Village, Ill.) tied for second.
- Best retail support at independent pet outlets:
Nutro Products Inc. Coastal Pet Products was second, and
Midwest Homes for Pets was third.
- Order fulfillment and customer service:
Nestle Purina PetCare Co. (St. Louis) and Tetra (Blacksburg,
Va.), in a tie. Flexi USA Inc. (Cincinnati) was the runner-up.
- Best overall distributor relations:
Midwest Homes for Pets. Coastal Pet Products was second,
and Super Pet was third.
The awards program, revamped last year to expand upon the association’s
prestigious Wholesale Policy Award, recognizes manufacturers
for specific policies and practices that are distributor-friendly.
To determine the winners, PIDA asked distributors to rate each
of 120 affiliate members on a five-point scale.
In related news, Dan Ginsburg of Evergreen Pet Supply (Tukwila,
Wash.) won a free conference registration in a drawing for
distributors who returned awards ballots.
Blaine Phillips, president of Phillips Feed & Pet Supply
(Bath, Pa.), was elected to another one-year term as president
of PIDA. Phillips has served on the association’s board
of directors since 1996.
Other officers re-elected to one-year terms include: Donald
Fleming of Quality Pets Inc. (Oklahoma City, Okla.), first
vice president; Robert Merar of General Pet Supply (Milwaukee),
second vice president; and Roger Johannigman of Loveland Pet
Products (Mason, Ohio), secretary/treasurer.
Perry Parks of Wolverton Inc. (Lansing, Mich.) and Matthew
Kochanowski of O.K. Pet Supply Inc. (Indian Orchard, Mass.),
joined the PIDA board.
George “Buddy” Baker of Pet Food Experts Inc.
(Cumberland, R.I.), retired from the board after six years
of service. He co-chaired the marketing task force that developed
the association’s “Power of D” marketing
materials.
PIDA’s 38th management conference & annual meeting
will be held Feb. 8-11, 2006, at the Hyatt Grand Champions
Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, Calif. [April 2005 PET AGE]
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