More than 200 people gathered at The Grounds of Alexandria for The Distributors annual Gala Dinner and Awards Night, which was made even more special as the company is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Brett Barclay, the newly appointed Chairman of The Distributors, welcomed guests on the evening and began by saying how honoured he was to have accepted his new role.
“I am honoured to have accepted the role as Chairman of The Distributors. After having spent 13 years on the AACS Board this is another step for me, and I look forward to working with everyone over the coming years and helping to make The Distributors an even better organisation with even stronger collaboration between suppliers and retailers,” he said.
George Tsapoutas, General Manager, The Distributors, said that the annual Conference and Gala Dinner had been a great success and he thanked all for attending.
“Following a year like no other in the wholesale industry it was fantastic to be able to get together with the Members, Suppliers and National Customers of The Distributors at our Gala Dinner,” he said.
“It has been 18 months since we had been able to meet face to face and on behalf of the Board of The Distributors and myself I would like to thank the industry for their support for this event.
“Our Conference is organised to share ideas, review the business and industry as well as a celebration of success, at our dinner events we recognise our members service to the group and individual business performance. This year we also introduced a couple of new awards to celebrate our 40th year, we introduced a company hall of fame award (PepsiCo / The Smith’s Snack Food Company) and an individual hall of fame award (Ross McHugh) along with recognising our two suppliers of the year, The Smith’s Snack Food Company & Level Beverages, a well-deserved congratulations goes to all of the winners.
“The Distributors also introduced its first National Conference online tradeshow that proved to be very successful for all those participating.
“My thanks go to Andrew Johnson and Reanan Bagshaw and team for pulling this together and making it such a successful event,” said Tsapoutas.
Award Winners:
2020 & 2021 Member Length of Service Awards:
5 Years:
Mackay Food Services
The Distributors Cairns
10 Years:
Sweeties Confectionery
Aygee Gippsland
15 Years:
SL Distributors
The Distributors Brisbane
20 Years:
KM Cupitt
Inland Distributors
Link Distribution
Rosella Distributors
30 Years:
Suncity Distributors
JB Metropolitan Distributors
35 Years:
Juicy Isle
40 Years:
Accredited Distributors
Kev Baldwin Wholesale
J&A Wholesalers
Member of the Year Up to $15m: Beach & Bush Distributors
Member of the Year $15m and above: JB Metropolitan
National Supplier of the Year up to $10m: LeVel Beverages
National Supplier of the Year $10m and above: Smiths Snackfoods
Best New Product: Cooks Confectionery Scorched Peanut Bar
Supplier (Company) Hall of Fame Award: The Smith’s Snackfood Company
Supplier (Individual) Hall of Fame Award: Ross McHugh, National Business Manager, Snackbrands Australia