May 28th Memorial Day May 2014 Volume 5, Issue 8 May 11th Employee of the Month of May - Cynthia Cindy Turner Well-earned Congratulations are in order for Cindy Turner, our current selection for Employee of the Month. Cindy began her career with AFI over 16 ½ years ago. Cindy works under the direction of Brenda Hernandez in the Accounts Receivable Department. Brenda tells us that Cindy is an all around excellent employee. Cindy is a team player, reliable, and a great asset to the department. Randy Arceneaux, President and CEO presents the Employee of the Month award to Cindy Turner Cindy has two adult children, Justin and Bryan. She has also been blessed with two grandsons, Cael, who is 7, and Ryder, who is 2. Cindy enjoys playing on the computer and is into antiques, especially furniture and spurs. Cindy also has her adopted family of one dog and two cats. They re nice to go home after a day at work. Cont. on Page 6 1
Spring 2014 Food Show - A Great Success The Stockholders meeting and dinner, was held on April 9th, 2014. At the dinner AFI was very please to have Peter Larkin as the main speaker. Peter is the President and CEO of the National Grocers Association, (NGA). That evening set the momentum for the day to follow, which ended in a great success for the 2014 Spring Food Show, Savings Paradise. A special thanks to Mr. Larkin and to all our Retailers, Vendors and Employees, without your contributions, work and devotion, AFI could not claim to be the: Home of all things Fresh! The Affiliated Family News Peter Larkin; President and CEO of the National Grocers Association Bar Harbor, ME Food Show Grand Prize Winner Congratulations! To Denny Porter; Porters Thriftways, Andrews, TX the winner of the Retailer Trip to Bar Harbor and Scarborough, Maine September 2014 Scarborough, ME 2
Plains Dairy Announces Award L to R: Greg Meador; President, Art Baca 15 Years of Service, Roy Mende; Production Manager Top Ten Reasons to Eat MORE Fruits and Vegetables Courtesy of Mary Reed / Plains Dairy Fruits and veggies add color, texture and appeal to your plate! Fruits and veggies are nutritious in any form - fresh, frozen, canned, dried and 100% juice...and they re ready when you are! Fruits an veggies provide fiber that helps fill you up and keeps your digestive system happy! Fruits and veggies are naturally low in calories! Eating pleasant of fruits and veggies may help reduce the risk of many diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and some cancers. Fruits and veggies are rich in vitamins and minerals that help you feel healthy and energized! Fruits and veggies are available in an almost infinite variety.there is always something new to try! Fruits and veggies are natures treat and easy to grab as a snack! Some crunch, some squirt, some you peel.some you don t, and some grow right in your own backyard! For more on Fruits and Veggies...Reference www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org 3
PTG Truck Shop Update! Photos courtesy of Dale Thompson Back on August 8th 2013 the ground breaking ceremony was held for our new Truck Shop. Eight short months later we are moved and business moves forward. Joe Marshall; Truck Shop Manager, Derek Rios; Truck Mechanic, Ben Ruiz; Truck Shop Lead Mechanic, Andrew Blackwell; Truck Mechanic Our new Truck Shop opened it s doors on April 9th, 2014. At our new shop we have two state of the art truck wash bays, five fuel island bays, a service bay, a tire bay, an express lane in the main shop area for quick fixes on equipment, eight tractor bays, four trailer repair bays, two reefer repair bays, and one body bay with the state of the art paint booth. Mothers I am sure that if the mothers from various countries could meet, there would be no more wars ~ E.M. Forster 4 Courtesy of Joe Marshall
AFI s Warehouse Incentive Program At Affiliated Foods, when we hire a new order selector there is a working standard that must be met in the first 60 days of employment. The Warehouse Management System calculates time for each store order based on Engineered Labor Standard. This time standard must be met at 100% by the first 60 days. Once the selector achieves 100% of standard and keeps that standard or above, they become qualified order selectors. This process helps orders to be pulled in a timely manner. May...Above and Beyond Perishable Top Pay: Obidiah Saldana, Andres Hernandez, Alejandro Romero, Anselmo Carbajal, Oscar Cabrales, Chalil Porter Perishable Qualified: David Barboza, Zachary Everson, Trinidad Fabela, Antoni Garcia, Andrew Esquibel HBC Top Pay: Terra Molina, Chelsey Espinoza, Marcia Coronado HBC Qualified: Trudy Berry Grocery Top Pay: Casey Shore, Hunter Hucks, Roderick Linton Grocery Qualified: Antonio Montano, Rene Martinez, Victor Garley, Aaron Soliz, Luis Robles, Mateo Landeros, Ivan Valenzuela, Cody Brunson Courtesy of Jimmy Ross / Director of Warehouse Operations, David Trimble / Assistant Director of Warehouse Operations, Enrique Barreras / Dry Grocery Supervisor, Ralph Telles / Perishable Supervisor and Israel Guajardo / HBC Supervisor Congratulations to all our 2014 Graduates! Hitch Your Wagon to a Star. ~ ~ ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson 5
EOM cont. from page 1... Cindy s favorite meal is rib-eye steak and her favorite movies are The Family Stone starring Diane Keaton and The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock. The most influential person in Cindy s life has been her father. Cindy says he taught her one of life s greatest lessons - to be strong and keep going no matter what happens. Cindy says she really enjoys her co-workers at Affiliated and plans to keep working. Someday she would like buy and sell things on the internet and maybe even buy some rental property. Cindy was presented the Employee of the Month plaque by Randy Arceneaux, President of AFI. She selected gift certificates from Jorge s Mexican Grill and The Plaza and will receive an additional 250 safety bonus points. Thank you for doing a GREAT job! Congratulations, Cindy! The following employees were also nominated this month. Congratulations to all! Kayla Duran, Mendy Eslinger, Graciela Garcia, Tony Sexton, Donnie Thompson Employee of the Month - Cindy Turner Courtesy of Rita Koontz / HR Riddle Riddle: A man is sitting in his cabin in Michigan. 3 hours later he gets out of his cabin in Texas. How is this possible? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.????? Answer on page 8 Spotlight on the Warehouse Newcomer of the Month Oscar Cabrales Oscar Cabrales works in the Perishable Department the supervision of Ralph Telles. Oscar began with Affiliated on March 18, 2014. Oscar has already made it to Top Pay and in a very short period of time. As Ralph commented, Oscar has a bright future with our company and I really enjoy having him on my crew! Great job! Thanks, Oscar, for a all you do! Congratulations! Joke: What season is it when you re jumping on a trampoline??? Answer on page 8... Courtesy of Jamallh Clark, AFI Recruiter 6
What s going on?? May is when everyone gets ready for summer. Kids get out of school so grab and go meals are a huge hit around this time. Cook outs on the week end are also a big hit. Push your Reser s salads, Sub Sandwiches, chief salads, assorted sandwiches, prepared meals and desserts. Have a full assortment of salads as they complement any meal or cook out. Use your great personalities and suggest some of these items with every purchase and offer samples and make an extra sale. Limon Aid and Aguas Frescas with lots of ice are also a big hit around this time. Offer ready to go meals for the kids such as Combos that include a sandwich, chips and a drink. It is also a great time to push your fruit cups and all cut fruit items, offer them in different size containers, pineapple, water melon, grapes, strawberries and assorted cut melons are great items you can mix and match. Make sure you have salsas, pico de gayo, baked beans, corn on the cob and Fried chicken these are great items that you can push in the summer. Just keep in mind that people spend a lot of time outdoors in the next upcoming months so let s make it easy for them to find what they are looking for. Have fun and work with your team on suggestive selling to increase your sales and your profits. Thank you and have fun this Summer Bobby For this month. AFI Bakery / Deli News For this month the first thing that you need to remember is May 5 th (Cinco de Mayo) for those stores that have a large Hispanic population. For Cinco the Mayo you need to have plenty of Hispanic pastries on hand and some patriotic cakes in red, green and white; again for those areas with large Hispanic populations. Also the May 10 th, is the Mexican Mother s Day and then May 11 th is the traditional Mother s Day. I hope that you order your heart-shaped cakes with plenty of time and start decorating them ahead of time for Mother s Day. Remember also that at the end of May there will be graduations at your local high schools and make sure and have some cakes decorated for those graduations in their school colors. Also if you live in an area with colleges or universities, please remember to make some cakes with the various school colors for those schools. For Memorial Day, May 28 th make sure to have some picnic cakes or cakes ready to go, sliced cake platters, and cinnamon rolls and quarter sheet cakes or eighth sheet cakes decorated 7 Spring Food Show 2014...What an AWESOME CAKE!! patriotically in red, white and blue. So be ready for a good month for the bakery as there are a lot of activities surrounding these holidays and celebrations; and remember that all of these are opportunities to increase sales for your bakery if you plan correctly and are prepared for them. Food Show: Every time after the food show we have a lot of requests for our technicians or myself to go to you store to help train your associates. Please understand that we have many of these requests from many of our stores for us to help everyone at one time. Whenever we send a technician or I go myself to help train one of your associates, then that person in turn can help train others in your bakeries. You can still call us and make requests for help training, but please keep in mind that your store is put on a list and we will get one of our technicians to your store to help train as soon as possible. Thanks! Jaime Jaime Ortega / Sales Manager / B/D jortega@afiama.com Bobby Pena / Deli Specialist rpena@afiama.com
1 ½ cups Shurfine Frozen sliced strawberries ¾ cup Shurfine Greek yogurt, plain 2 tablespoons Shurfine Orange juice 2 tablespoons Shurfine Honey 1 ½ teaspoons Fresh mint leaves, finely chopped 1. In a blender or food processor, mix all ingredients together and blend until smooth. 2. Pour into two glasses. Serve immediately. Tips: Feel free to garnish with fresh mint leaves or strawberries. Strawberry Mint Smoothie Serves: 2 Courtesy of Val Clawson / DeJarnett and Western Family Answer to Riddle from page 6. Answer: He is a pilot in the cabin of the airplane. Reference: www.goodriddlesnow.com THANK YOU to all who have contributed to the success of the Newsletter! A special thanks to Dale Thompson and Kevin Fortenberry for their continued support and help! The Affiliated Family News / Cathy Gallivan / afinews@afiama.com If you have any thing to contribute please e-mail the AFI Family News @ www.afinews@afiama.com Joke answer 1401 Farmers Avenue Amarillo, TX 79118 806-372-3851 Spring Time! 8