Recently, several Associated Food Stores’ leaders attended the WAFC conference in California. WAFC stands for Western Associate of Food Chains and the event brings together WAFC’s commitment to education, as well as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) and retailers to collaborate on future planning and strategic initiatives.
“This is an amazing opportunity,” said Glen Keysaw, executive vice president of value chain at AFS. “I had the opportunity to attend this event for the first time in my new role and was amazed at the preparation and professionalism our AFS team demonstrates as they meet with our CPG partners.”
The conference spans a total of four days, and the bulk of the time is spent with 30-minute meetings between retailers and their CPG partners. During these meetings, the AFS team, including Todd Bell, David Panter, Todd Jensen and Jason Sokol spent time updating the CPG vendors on any concerns they have and new programs as well as collaboration opportunities. This is also a time where the CPGs bring their plans, new item launches and other initiatives to the AFS team.
“Our teams put in a tremendous amount of thoughtful planning before the event to ensure we’re fully prepared for every conversation with our CPG partners,” said Todd Bell, vice president of procurement. “A huge thank-you goes to Katie Helfrech for her outstanding work in coordinating the meetings, and to all the category managers and procurement team members who helped gather and organize key data. We’re fortunate to have such a dedicated and talented team.”
Unlike in previous years, this year included the participation of Todd Jensen, vice president of fresh foods, adding valuable representation from the fresh teams. This was an excellent move for AFS. Todd spent three full days meeting with CPGs focused on fresh offerings, helping the company build stronger relationships with partners who are driving much of the industry’s growth and innovation.
“It was a great opportunity to represent our fresh teams and meet directly with CPG partners who are leading innovation in the fresh space,” said Todd Jensen. “These conversations help us stay aligned on what matters most to our retailers and strengthen our ability to deliver fresh solutions that drive growth.”
In addition to the CPG meetings, WAFC holds their annual convention to help the association understand their education efforts, as well as featuring some of the student case studies that come out of their executive leadership programs.
“This event is very important to AFS. We are one of the only grocery wholesalers that attends from across the country. By being there, we are better able to stay on the CPG’s radar and demonstrate how working with wholesalers can make a difference for them.” said Glen.
“I personally want to thank the leaders who attended this event,” said David Rice, president and CEO of AFS. “I know it is a big commitment and takes them away from their day-to-day jobs here at AFS and their families. However, it is incredibly important for us to be relevant to our CPG partners.”