Nokes receives National Driver ‘All-Star’ award

Nokes was recently honored as a Driver All-Star
by the National Private Truck Council.

Sept. 20, 2023 — Congratulations to our Customer Sales Representative Andrew “Andy” Nokes, who was honored as a Driver All-Star by the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) at its recent annual conference in Orlando, Florida.

The National Driver All-Star awards are awarded annually by NPTC to private fleet truck drivers who demonstrate high performance standards against their peer drivers throughout the country. Drivers are evaluated on customer service, safety, adherence to company standards, regulatory compliance and community service.

“I’m delighted to see Andy receive national recognition as a national driver All-Star,” said Vice President of Direct-Store Delivery and Distributors Rob Schulz. “As a Schwan’s STAR driver, he demonstrates to all of us and to the transportation and distribution industry, that Schwan’s drivers are the best in the business.”

Andy is responsible for a Schwan's Consumer Brands direct-store-delivery route in the Kearney, Nebraska, area. He has worked for the company for 16 years and approaches every day like it is his first.

“You have to be laser-focused behind the wheel on our trucks and aware of every potential hazard,” Andy said. “Every day, I just concentrate on staying focused.”

Thirteen drivers receive company’s ‘Driver Star’ award

Andy was nominated for the national award after being one of 11 winners who were recognized internally as recipients of Schwan’s Driver Star Award for 2022.

Those drivers include:

• Ronald Dickenson, a short haul driver at the Kansas City DC.
• Jimmie Covert, a regional driver in Salina, Kansas.
• Jarrett Sykes, a customer sales distributor in Kansas City, Missouri.
• Stephen Allread, a customer sales distributor in Walton, Kentucky.
• Aaron Anderson, a customer sales distributor in Bridgeport, West Virginia.
• Don Buckingham, a customer sales distributor in Hermon, Maine.
• Cody Carr, a customer sales representative in Richland, Washington.
• Gerald Miller, a customer sales distributor in Cartersville, Georgia.
• Dan Needham, A route sales specialist recently promoted to a DOT area distribution manager in Tolleson, Arizona.
• Gerald Osborn, a customer sales distributor in Richardson, Texas.
• Andy Nokes, a customer sales representative in Kearney, Nebraska.

​​​​The Schwan’s Driver Star Award was created to recognize drivers throughout the company who achieve superior results in the following criteria:

• Fleet Scorecard (or similar ranking).
• 3-year motor vehicle reports – violations.
• 3-year accident / injury history.
• 1-year history hours of service violations.
• Company contributions.
• Community service contributions.
• Driver’s statement on safety/productivity.

Congratulations Andy and all the recipients at Schwan’s. We appreciate your commitment to safety!

Peot and D’Angelo named as ‘Top Women in Grocery’ by Progressive Grocer

June 15, 2023 — We extremely proud to celebrate our Director of Category Management Rachael Peot and Director of Club Channel Sales Diane D’Angelo as they were recently announced to Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of “Top Women in Grocery” in the “Rising Stars” category.

READ: Click here to see the announcement from Progressive Grocer. 

This is the 17^th year Progressive Grocer has hosted this program that celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of thousands of women at all levels of the industry. Nominees include female employees in all sectors of the grocery industry, including retailers, wholesalers, suppliers and solution-providers in the community. 

This is what Progressive Grocer had to say about why each recipient from our team was selected:

• Rachael Peot’s category strategies and plans played an integral part in helping to drive the total business up by double digits versus the prior year across the portfolio. 

  

  Rachael Peot

• She led a strategic project outside of her normal responsibility set to create an internal platform to share relevant need-to-know information regarding the consumer brands business; the platform now serves as the single source of truth for the consumer brands organization.
• Peot helped organize the annual national sales meeting and had ownership over building category narratives, which were used to align category opportunities with internal strategies.
   
• Diane D’Angelo delivered significant sales growth in 2022 for the third consecutive year with her two club store accounts: One account saw total sales growth of 29.5 percent, while the other saw growth of 19.5 percent.

  

  Diane D'Angelo

• She played a critical role in the integration of the new CJ Foods sales team, training them on Schwan’s internal forecasting tools and sharing the company’s strategic approach to trade management and investment.
• D’Angelo has provided retail insights on the club channel to Cleveland Research for the past several years; this has enabled the firm to issue publications on shopper dynamics and trends. 

Other categories in the award program include senior-level executives, store managers and trailblazers. To celebrate all recipients, a “Top Women in Grocery Awards Gala” is scheduled for November.