A company formed by the merger of two leaders in the all-natural dog food market was named Supplier of the Year during the Pet Industry Distributors Association’s annual meeting and management conference, held Jan. 13-16 in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

WellPet L.L.C. (Tewksbury, Mass.), recognized as top supplier, was formed by the recent merger of Old Mother Hubbard and Eagle Pack Pet Foods Inc.

For the second year in a row, Super Dog Pet Food Co., of Leola, Pa., was named Distributor of the Year.

Coastal Pet Products Inc. of Alliance, Ohio, was runner-up in the Supplier of the Year vote, while Lone Star Pet Supply of Schertz, Texas, took runner-up honors in the Distributor of the Year category.

PIDA’s Performance Benchmarking Awards recognize manufacturers and distributors for specific policies and practices that help drive cost from the distribution channel and make the companies good channel partners. PIDA distributor members submit ballots rating 100 affiliate manufacturer members on a five-point scale; the manufacturer with the highest average score in all categories wins the Supplier of the Year Award. Similarly, manufacturer members submit ballots rating all 55 PIDA distributor members; the distributor with the highest average score in all categories wins the Distributor of the Year Award.

Winning suppliers included:

• Best sales support: Dogswell/Catswell (Los Angeles). Four Paws Products (Hauppauge, N.Y.) was second. Coastal Pet Products Inc. was third. Mars Petcare (Franklin, Tenn.) was cited for most improvement.
• Marketing and promotions: Dogswell/Catswell. WellPet L.L.C. was second. Zoo Med Laboratories Inc. (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) was third. Mars Petcare was cited for most improvement.
• Logistics and operations: Coastal Pet Products Inc. WellPet L.L.C. was second. JW Pet Co. Inc. (Teterboro, N.J.) was third. Central Aquatics (Franklin, Wis.) was cited for most improvement.

Central Aquatics was honored for demonstrating the greatest overall improvement in all three performance categories.

Winning distributors included:

• Best sales support: Lone Star Pet Supply Inc. Super Dog Pet Food Co. was second. General Pet Supply Inc. (Milwaukee) was third, and was cited for most improvement.
• Marketing and promotions: Super Dog Pet Food Co. Phillips Feed & Pet Supply (Easton, Pa.) was second. Lone Star Pet Supply Inc. was third. Lee-Mar Aquarium & Pet Supply (Vista, Calif.) was cited for most improvement.
• Logistics and operations: Super Dog Pet Food Co. Phillips Feed & Pet Supply was second. Lone Star Pet Supply Inc. was third. Wyld’s Wingdom (Norfolk, Va.) was cited for most improvement.

Wyld’s Wingdom was honored for demonstrating the greatest overall improvement in all three distributor categories.

Members re-elected officers for 2009: Bob Merar of General Pet Supply, chairman; Roger Johannigman of Bradley Caldwell Inc. (Mason, Ohio), first vice chairman; Fred Schober of Super Dog Pet Food Co., second vice chairman; and Rob Chouinard of Gardner Distributing Co. (Billings, Mont.), secretary-treasurer. 

Randy Reber of Animal Supply Co. (Federal Way, Wash.) and Roger Johannigman were elected to additional two-year terms on the board.

About 170 people—representing 27 distributors, 45 affiliate companies and a handful of guest companies—attended the PIDA conference.

The next PIDA conference will be held Jan. 26-29, 2010, at the Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells, Calif. For information, visit www.pida.org. [March 2009 PET AGE]