IRVINE, Calif. (February 25, 2025) – Last week, Golden State Foods (GSF), one of the largest diversified suppliers to the foodservice industry, presented the 2024 Chairman’s Challenge Award to the Quality Custom Distribution (QCD) Charlotte, North Carolina team. A celebrated 25-year tradition and annual recognition of the outstanding operational performance by its leading facility team, the prestigious award recognizes the QCD Charlotte team’s exemplary results in the areas of people, safety, quality, customer support, financial results, and community engagement.
“QCD Charlotte excelled in so many aspects of their 2024 performance, building on a Best in Class Award win last year and seizing every opportunity to soar to new heights together as one team,” said GSF President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Dick. “Congratulations to the Charlotte team on a banner year and this well-deserved recognition of the many accomplishments and outstanding results achieved by our dedicated associates!”
Commemorating a milestone year for GSF’s 25th annual Chairman’s Challenge Award, Brian Dick co-presented the Chairman’s Challenge Award with GSF Board of Directors Executive Vice Chair Stephen Wetterau during the company’s annual awards ceremony at GSF’s Global Leadership Conference in Southern California. Both presenters shared remarks about the history of the Chairman’s Challenge Award, which started a quarter-century ago when Mark Wetterau, former GSF Chairman and CEO, brought the tradition to GSF after his father created a similar award at Wetterau, Inc. decades earlier.
Today, the time-honored tradition endures with QCD Charlotte earning GSF’s top honors. Among the numerous 2024 accomplishments announced during the award presentation, the winning facility team supported customers with last-mile distribution services; provided hurricane relief support, earning distinct customer recognition; delivered a consistent safety performance, recognized by a fourth consecutive annual National Safety Council Award; piloted new operational technology to reduce accidents; excelled in cost management; achieved financial results; maintained the highest standards in quality audits conducted internally, externally, and with customers; and inspired associates’ community involvement.
“We talked about bringing home the Eagle for so long, and now it’s finally happening!” said QCD Charlotte General Manager Scott VanLue. “Our associates have worked so hard day in and day out, in challenging weather conditions to service our customers, giving back to support our community, and even delivered a baby while in the field! This Chairman’s Challenge Award is a great honor, and I’m so excited to share it with the team.”
In addition to its Chairman’s Challenge honors, QCD Charlotte received GSF’s 2024 Safety Excellence Award, the GSF Foundation’s Outstanding Associate Engagement Award and its second consecutive GSF “Best in Class” Platinum Award in the distribution category. Comprising the finalists for Chairman’s Challenge, the company’s annual “Best in Class” awards honor large facilities (Platinum Awards) and small facilities (Diamond Awards) in distribution and food processing.
For 2024, QCD Phoenix, Arizona won the “Best in Class” Diamond Award for the fourth consecutive year. The food processing category winners include five-time honoree and last year’s Chairman’s Challenge winner, GSF Fresh! Guangzhou, China, with the “Best in Class” Diamond Award and GSF’s City of Industry, California Manufacturing team with the “Best in Class” Platinum Award.