Honor Foods leverages its rich heritage and strategic acquisitions to drive innovation in food distribution
As a part of Burris Logistics, Honor Foods is a leading provider of frozen, refrigerated, dry, dairy, and protein products. Currently, the company represents over 800 brand-name food suppliers and offers more than 7000 in-stock items. Furthermore, its exclusive private labels, including Sommer Maid, Sunny Morning Foods, Colony Lane, and Valley Fresh, are renowned for their exceptional quality and value at competitive prices. Continuously growing, Honor Foods has completed two transformative acquisitions in the past few years: R.W. Zant and Sunny Morning, expanding its redistribution services and product opportunities across the West Coast and Southeast. JD Spangler, President, sheds light on the company’s structure and services.
“In a nutshell, we are a family-owned business dedicated to food distribution, largely servicing food service distributors. We have a long history in the industry with Burris Logistics, our parent company, being 100 years old. Honor Foods represents a consolidation of multiple businesses: the oldest, Sunny Morning, has been operating for 115 years; R.W. Zant has a rich history spanning 75 years; and Honor Foods itself has been in existence for 76 years. As a result, we have a deep heritage in the food business. Today, we operate across 39 states, primarily functioning as a redistributor. This means we provide essential solutions within the supply chain, connecting manufacturers with our customers, who are mostly other distributors. We receive large quantities from suppliers, break them down, and combine them with goods from various other suppliers to give our customers the quantities they need at the time they want. This approach allows them to manage inventory efficiently, minimizing the need for excess stock, storage space, and working capital.
“Our product range encompasses nearly every food item you might encounter when dining out at a restaurant. This includes center-of-the-plate proteins such as seafood, poultry, beef, lamb, and veal, as well as beverages like coffees and teas. We also supply a variety of vegetables and fruits used in desserts. In other words, we provide all food products utilized by restaurants and those prepared foods commonly found in retailers or convenience stores,” JD begins.
Strategic growth strategy
Sunny Morning and R.W. Zant becoming part of the Honor Foods family has proven to be a smart decision, enhancing the company’s portfolio and expanding its geographical presence. JD shares insights into the motivations behind these acquisitions. “Our acquisition strategy is driven by two core factors. Firstly, we are constantly aiming to provide better solutions for our customers, which we define broadly as both suppliers and the distributors who purchase from us. To achieve this, it is often necessary for us to serve their entire marketplace or area, a priority that guides our acquisition strategy. Generally, having a larger geographic coverage significantly benefits our suppliers, and our ultimate goal is to establish national reach. We strive to align ourselves with our customers’ footprints, a strategy that allows us to grow alongside them as they expand into new markets where we already have a base of operation. Next, and equally important, is the cultural fit of any potential acquisition, with respect to who we are and our principles. As a family-run business, we are proud that each acquisition still has family members working in the business. Burris Logistics typically seeks a partner that makes sense not only from a business and sales standpoint but also for their team members, as they want to see them be successful moving forward. Therefore, finding the right cultural alignment is essential for us,” he states.
Broadening its geographical coverage is a key priority for Honor Foods, as highlighted by its acquisition strategy. To reach even more customers, the company has recently opened a new distribution center in Orlando, Florida. “Orlando was a logical place for us to expand, especially since we already had a small operation there that came with our acquisition of Sunny Morning. We also operated another small facility down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Centrally located, Orlando makes it easier for us to serve the Southeast and benefits from a rapidly growing population, presenting significant opportunities for natural growth. Additionally, its large hospitality market makes it an ideal location for us to modernize our overall facility and distribution capabilities to better serve our customers. Historically, we primarily served customers from the Northeast, and now we can shorten their lead times by at least a day in terms of product turnaround,” he informs.
In January 2021, Honor Foods started operating out of its new facility in Philadelphia, taking another step towards modernizing its processes. “Our new, larger building on Tacony Street is located within the Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ). This move from our older Philadelphia facility to this more modern one is part of a broader revitalization effort in the region. With this transition, we were able to not only optimize the layout of the facility to better suit the needs of our business, but also to incorporate many of the latest, updated technologies dedicated to product storage, workflow, and equipment. As a result of this investment, we have experienced a substantial increase in productivity,” JD emphasizes.
Creating value
Alongside new facilities, Honor Foods’ operations have been bolstered through the adoption of cutting-edge technology, as JD unveils: “Like many companies integrating businesses through acquisition, we are making significant investments in our IT and technology platforms. Our ultimate goal is to have every business within the Honor Foods umbrella on the same system, thus providing a seamless experience for both our customers and suppliers. This integration will enhance visibility into product turnover and demand fluctuations, allowing us to share valuable information more effectively. We are also exploring different ways to incorporate automation and artificial intelligence to augment our processes. Nonetheless, we still uphold our people-first approach, which is often referred to in the industry as Team Human. We believe that a lot of teamwork can be simplified through automation, enabling our staff to create more value and better work with our customers to figure out solutions to challenges that are more complex. Our purpose statement emphasizes improving lives and supply chains by solving tough problems. Leveraging automation and artificial intelligence allows our talented workforce to focus on providing those solutions rather than spend their valuable time performing routine tasks,” he concludes.
By embracing strategic acquisitions, cutting-edge technology, and geographic expansion Honor Foods is poised to provide many more customers with its renowned distribution services.