TEMPLE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--McLane Company, Inc., a leading supply chain services company providing grocery and foodservice supply chain solutions, was selected as one of five finalists for the 2018 PHA Partner of the Year Award.
PHA recognized the Partner of the Year Award finalists at their Innovating a Healthier Future Summit on May 2-4, 2018 in Washington, DC. The winner will be announced at the 2018 Fit to Celebrate Gala on September 27, 2018, also taking place in Washington, DC.
PHA’s Partner of the Year Award nominees are evaluated on the reach, innovation and positive impact of their work in populations disproportionately impacted by childhood obesity. The nominees support PHA’s mission to ensure that children and families have the opportunity to live healthier lives wherever they are. The nominees also create a ripple effect, inspiring others in their industry to take action and make “the healthy choice the easy choice” while executing successful partner-to-partner opportunities.
McLane Company partnered with PHA on May 16, 2016 and became the first grocery and foodservice supply chain distributor to do so. McLane’s commitment to PHA includes a wide range of supply chain solutions that make it easier for stores to stock fresh produce, private label bottled water with the Drink Up logo (a PHA signature initiative encouraging people to drink more water more often) and products that meet PHA’s Healthier Food and Beverage Product Criteria. In 2017 alone, McLane distributed 1.325 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables to foodservice and grocery retailers, modernizing the system in which fresh produce is accessed by the average American citizen. McLane supplies retailers with fruit and vegetable point-of-sale kits at no charge. The materials are designed to encourage consumers to purchase fresh produce while shopping.
Through its subsidiary, Consumer Value Products, McLane has created healthier new private label products that meet PHA’s Healthier Food and Beverage Criteria or PHA’s Healthier Recipe Criteria. The products are promoted to retailers and priced competitively, making it easier for the consumers to identify healthier choices. McLane also offers bundled discounts to retailers on a routine basis that align with seasonal themes.
Additionally, McLane makes healthier choices easier for its teammates, offering free activity trackers, healthier catering options for corporate meetings and healthy lifestyle tips and recipes in its internal teammate magazine. As a Drink Up partner, McLane promotes Drink Up messaging to teammates with posters at water coolers and fountains at its headquarters, administrative offices and 80 distribution centers.
“We are honored to be chosen as a finalist for PHA's Partner of the Year Award for 2018. PHA's initiatives to help end childhood obesity are innovative yet accessible for parents and families, and McLane is delighted to spread the word to our teammates, our customers and consumers nationwide,” said Tom Sicola, VP of Marketing at McLane Company, Inc.
“As a finalist for PHA’s prestigious Partner of the Year Award, we congratulate McLane Company on this recognition,” said Blythe Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer at Partnership for a Healthier America. “Delivering to nearly 110,000 convenience stores, mass merchants, drug stores, and chain restaurants across the country, this acknowledgement is a testament to their commitment to ensuring families have access to healthier options wherever they are.”
About McLane
McLane Company, Inc. is one of the largest supply chain services leaders, providing grocery and foodservice supply chain solutions for convenience stores, mass merchants, drug stores and chain restaurants throughout the United States. McLane, through McLane Grocery and McLane Foodservice operates over 80 distribution centers across the U.S. and one of the nation's largest private fleets. The company buys, sells and delivers more than 50,000 different consumer products to nearly 110,000 locations across the U.S. In addition, McLane provides alcoholic beverage distribution through its wholly owned subsidiary, Empire Distributors, Inc. McLane is a wholly owned unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK) and employs more than 20,000 teammates.
About Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA)
PHA’s mission is to leverage the power of the private sector to bring lasting systemic changes that improve the food supply, increase healthy choices, increase physical activity and contribute to a culture of health. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction with – but independent from – Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! effort. PHA identifies, accelerates and celebrates voluntary business practices that improve or increase choice or lead to new norms and behavior around food and physical activity. For more information about PHA, please visit www.ahealthieramerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.
