All Star continues strong growth through membership additions and new purchasing programs. Dairy membership continues to grow, but All Star continues to see solid growth in other food manufacturing sectors. Great success has been achieved in their new sugar, cocoa and calcium carbonate programs, giving their members a competitive edge. This is in addition to their list of over 150 suppliers offering discounts in the major categories of:

  • Packaging (resin, caps, cartons, bottles, bags, labels, bulk cans, bulk totes)
  • Ingredients (flavorings, juice/tea concentrates, nuts, confections, powders, vitamins, drink bases, oils, sweeteners, fruits)
  • Cleaning/Sanitizing/Water Treatment/Lubricants
  • Coolers/Freezers/Dispensers/Lab Supplies/Uniforms
  • Plastic Cases & Pallets/Ink Jet Coders/Stretch & Shrink Film
  • Tires/Trucks/Autos/Parts/Decals/Oil/Forklifts & Parts

Led by Executive Director Jeff Sterne and a very capable and experienced staff, All Star has recently had a number of staff changes. Jim Sutton, senior vice president, retired from All Star April 1, 2015 after 20 years of service. Bruce Daily has been promoted to vice president of purchasing. He will be directing all purchasing responsibilities of the association.

Joel Bryant has been promoted to the position of director of purchasing. Bryant joined All Star in 2013 as purchasing manager. Jeff Hoogerheide was promoted to chief financial officer. In addition to his assigned financial duties, Hoogerheide will be assuming the supervision of the accounting staff.

Alli McClure was recently hired as a purchasing analyst; Joe Moore was recently hired as regional sales manager.

Valuable services that pay-off

Beyond saving money with purchasing programs, All Star offers many services to its members to assist in savings, compliance and efficiency, such as:

Industry-specific on-line training. Imagine having affordable industry specific training available 24/7 that not only educates but keeps precise records to satisfy government regulations. Many of the courses are available in both English and Spanish. The wide range of subjects include basic first aid, chemical safety, fork lift operations, workplace HR issues, safe driver training, lock-out and tag-out as well as many other related modules.

Procurement services for natural gas and electricity contracting. Partnering with EnerNoc, All Star is able to save its members huge amounts on this expense. If significant savings are not realized after the auction or RFQ, you won’t be required to sign a contract.

Web-based freight/dairy commodities/sugar/cocoa powder quotes. Obtaining quotes from multiple freight haulers/consolidators, sugar, cocoa and dairy commodity suppliers is easy.

All Star University. Qualified consultants that specialize in the following areas of concentration offer members’ expert advice at discounted rates: Operations and Food Safety; Engineering & Maintenance; Manufacturing Intelligence; Accounting & Software; Distribution; Blow Molding Training; Safety & OSHA Compliance and Human Resource Services.

Quality assurance. In 2013 All Star announced that its annual audit had been realigned with the standard SQF audit to save members from obtaining two separate examinations. This allows members to be SQF-certified at their low discounted rate at the same time participating in the All Star annual QA awards program.

Park City ReposiTrak. This program addresses the three most important facets of the FSMA requirements: Document Management, Track & Trace and Perpetual Inventory within the supply chain. Park City along with Leavitt Partners has developed a computer software program that can address regulatory, reputational and potential financial liability risk. All Star is offering this program to its members. 

 This article was prepared by All Star Association. For more information, visit www.allstarassociation.com.