General Mills, Inc. awarded two broker regions with the Fiscal 2015 “Broker of the Year” award last month at NAMA. Each year, the company nominates a broker in both its East and West regions for superior performance.
In the West, Advantage Sales & Marketing took the award, represented by Harold Gold and Kevin Hawkins. Mark Kelley, General Mills West Region Manager said “this year’s award was particularly hard to determine with so many brokers showing outstanding performance.” He went on to say, “ASM Colorado manages an exceptionally expansive territory on our behalf, and turned in a stellar performance by executing the fundamentals: operator intimacy, core item placements, and new product penetration.”
In the East, Grabbe Leonard was awarded, represented by Jeff Grabbe and Shannon Barr. Cyndi Brodt, General Mills East Region Manager, remarked “Grabbe Leonard focused time and energy on the most important priorities, by taking his fiscal 2015 sales execution plan and finding a way to stabilize and grow his market.” “The customer knowledge Jeff of Grabbe Leonard gathered from his well-developed relationships resulted in powerful information to gain clearer understanding of customer needs and to flesh out opportunities.”
In addition General Mills delivered two Special Achievement awards. In the West, Karen Heiser representing the Burdette Beckmann Midwest market was honored for her above and beyond efforts for planning and execution. Kelley commented, “I wish we could clone Karen, she just keeps her head down, anticipates needs before the rest, and then delivers beyond expectations.” In the East, Dave Jorgensen of Burdette Beckmann received the honor for his assistance in supporting General Mills at Canteen and USG. Brodt commented, “Dave’s well-developed relationships at both Canteen and USG led to greater opportunities for both parties.”