This week, the Best in Biz Awards announced that Golden State Foods (GSF) has earned a 2024 Gold Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year. With the first-of-its-kind in the U.S. burger patty industry, GSF’s Opelika, Alabama Protein Products facility has implemented cutting-edge robotics and a vision inspection system that automates patty production, which enhances both product quality and workforce efficiency. This breakthrough technology is transforming how GSF inspects and processes burger patties, setting a new benchmark in food safety and production standards.
"To best support our foodservice customers, we continually pursue the highest standards by leveraging the newest technologies to heighten the safety, quality, and productivity of our food manufacturing operations," said Brian Dick, GSF President and CEO. “This Best in Biz recognition is a testament to the innovative teams at GSF that continuously improve and advance our business for the future.”
Best in Biz named GSF’s logistics company, Quality Custom Distribution, as 2023 Gold Award winner for Environmental Program of the Year with its fleet electrification, renewable diesel fuel, and solar energy initiatives advancing QCD’s sustainability journey in recent years. Recognizing environmental and community initiatives implemented in 2020 and 2021, GSF previously received a 2021 Best in Biz Gold Award for Most Socially Responsible Company of the Year.
In 2020, GSF earned a Best in Biz Gold Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year, based on the surplus bottled milk hunger alleviation initiative that KanPak U.S. launched during the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, the Best in Biz Awards honored former GSF Chairman and CEO Mark Wetterau with an Executive of the Year Silver Award in the Large Companies category (1,000+ employees).
As the only business awards program judged by independent panels of prominent news reporters and respected editors from top-tier publications, the Best in Biz Awards occur annually in two separate, geography-based programs, including North America (Canada and U.S.) and international (open to all companies anywhere in the world). The organization honors top-performing companies in a range of categories, including Fastest-Growing Companies, Innovation, Customer Service, Leading Executives, Enterprise Product, and Corporate Social Responsibility.