By Darcy MacRae
The past 25 years have been very good for Flanagan Foodservice. The family-owned and operated business celebrated its 25th anniversary recently, showing that customer service and employee appreciation go a long way.
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Flanagan Foodservice, which has distribution centres in Sudbury as well as Kitchener and Owen Sound, began 25 years ago as a discount grocery store.
Soon owner Joe Flanagan was making deliveries out of the back of his station wagon, paving the way for the business to become a multi-million dollar company that distributes food products to the entire province of Ontario and western Quebec.
Throughout its 25-year history, Flanagan Foodservice has taken great pride in treating customers with the utmost respect.
They also feel it is extremely important to treat their employees with the same consideration.
Flanagan Foodservice executive vice-president Rick Flanagan, who along with his brothers Murray, Jeff, and Dan run the business today, says his family honours their employees because they know how important these people are to the companyÂ?s success.
Â?The employees are what make up the company. We attribute our success over the years to having a lot of high quality, dedicated, employees,Â? said Flanagan.
Â?We think if we do a good job of taking care of our employees, then they in turn will do a good job of taking care of our customers.Â?
Flanagan and his brothers never imagined embarking on careers in the food industry when they were growing up.
But they feel proud to carry on the tradition of the family business their father Joe, who passed away in June of 2000, started 25 years ago.
Â?ItÂ?s pretty incredible. When we were younger we never thought weÂ?d want to work for the old man in the food industry. ThatÂ?s how we thought about it then, but somehow weÂ?d always find ourselves here through summer employment,Â? said Flanagan.
Â?We found that the food industry is quite an interesting and exciting place to be. Just to be able to carry out what my father started is a great feeling. He started it, and I know heÂ?d be incredibly proud looking at us now, carrying on what he started.Â?
SudburyÂ?s Flanagan Foodservice distribution centre opened in 1991 in Lively and has served local hotels and restaurants operations ever since.
Tracy Blais, a buyer at the Sudbury distribution centre, says she and her colleagues feel honoured to work for such a stable and prosperous business.
Â?ItÂ?s great to work for a successful company like Flanagan Foodservice.
Â?I started here in 1993 and IÂ?m still here, which is great because itÂ?s rare that you get to work for one company for that long.Â?
