7-Eleven Announces Awards Recipients

DALLAS – Pinnacle Food Products Inc., a dry goods manufacturer that produces the flavor mixes for a number of top-selling cappuccinos and cocoas in 7-Eleven stores nationwide, is the chain's 2005 Retailer Initiative Award recipient.

In announcing the award Friday, the company said Pinnacle Foods won the honor for its outstanding efforts last year in customer satisfaction, demand chain support and the development of products that are exclusive to 7-Eleven.

The primary objective of the Retailer Initiative Award program is to formally recognize the supplier that has excelled at helping 7-Eleven meet its customers changing needs through team merchandising, demand chain solutions, cost of goods, category management, and contributing to creative advertising and promotional programs.

"Pinnacle's aggressive approach to new product development and their collaborative efforts with 7-Eleven contributed to a record 10 percent sales increase in the hot beverage category in 2004," said David Podeschi, senior vice president of merchandising for Dallas-based 7-Eleven. "The Pinnacle team is a results-driven organization with a strong customer focus that has positively impacted our business."

Pinnacle was presented the award Aug. 18 at the 7-Eleven Business Partner Conference in Dallas, which attracted more than 600 senior executives and managers from more than 200 companies. Participants heard 7-Eleven leaders speak about business objectives for 2006, marketing/promotional plans and cause marketing opportunities with the company’s signature charity Education is Freedom.

Pinnacle co-CEO Steve Colnitis said this award is a milestone for the supplier-retailer relationship that began 11 years ago with 7-Eleven.

"From the beginning, we have been treated as an integral business partner at 7-Eleven and this award is a tremendous honor for us," Colnitis said. "We’re just a small manufacturing company and we are humbled by this honor."

7-Eleven also presented Team Merchandising awards to outstanding suppliers in various categories. These winners include:
PepsiCo -- Proprietary Products
Wells Blue Bunny -- Vault
The Hershey Company -- Processed Foods
Kraft -- Fresh Foods
Mountain View Marketing, Inc. -- Non-Foods
Boost Mobile -- Services

Candidates were nominated by 7-Eleven's corporate merchandising and operations teams, and judged on business activities in 2004 and 2005. The award recipients were decided by the 7-Eleven Awards Committee, composed of five senior executive team members.

This is the fourth year 7-Eleven has presented the Retailer Initiative award. Last year’s winner was The Hershey Co. and Nestle Waters North America won in 2003, and Anheuser-Busch was the first recipient in 2002.
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