IRVINE, Calif., (November 2, 2020) – Golden State Foods (GSF), one of the largest diversified suppliers to the foodservice and retail industries, is pleased to announce the promotion of Ryan Hammer to GSF corporate senior vice president and president, Quality Custom Distribution (QCD). From QCD’s Frisco, Texas headquarters, Ryan will continue overseeing all aspects of the QCD logistics business and will now assume responsibility for GSF’s Liquid Products North America (LPNA) sales team. In this executive role, Ryan will champion superior customer satisfaction and operational excellence objectives, including financial and growth goals.
“Ryan has proven himself to be an outstanding leader in the logistics space, growing our business by building and maintaining excellent customer relationships and effectively leading the QCD team,” said Brian Dick, GSF corporate executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We have full confidence in him that as he takes on this new responsibility of leading the LPNA sales team, his values, enthusiasm, demonstrated leadership, and natural salesmanship will enable the team to reach even greater heights to expand the liquids business and help grow GSF overall.”
A 20-year industry veteran, Ryan joined GSF in 2017 as Corporate Vice President and President, QCD, and since then has contributed substantially to QCD’s business growth. Under Ryan’s leadership, QCD welcomed more than 1,000 new associates, opened its new Frisco headquarters, and added 10 new distribution centers, including expansions in three existing centers. During this time, multiple QCD teams have earned customer recognition, including more than 20 Starbucks Distribution Excellence Program Service Efficiency Scorecard honors (formerly Pike Place Awards) and several Chick-fil-A Outstanding Service Awards.
Prior to GSF/QCD, Ryan served in various leadership positions with PepsiCo across North America for more than 15 years. Throughout his career, Ryan gained a broad range of experience in both operations and sales, as well as associate leadership across the U.S. and Canada. In some cases, he delivered the company’s best profit growth performance and employee satisfaction scores for selected regions, as he developed new markets for the company.
Ryan volunteers his time as a board member for the national GSF Foundation, an associate-run, associate-funded nonprofit serving children and families in the communities where GSF associates live and work. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana University and his master’s degree in executive management from Colorado University. Ryan currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his family.
With a U.S. footprint of 28 facilities, QCD provides custom, last-mile distribution to more than 7,500 quick service restaurant (QSR) customers in virtually every state. This year’s expansion into the Midwest and Northeast has enabled the company to support 2,100 more QSR stores across 20 states. Serving a variety of foodservice industry giants since 2006, QCD drives more than 35 million miles each year, distributing a half billion products and making more than a million deliveries annually from its strategically located U.S. distribution centers.
Globally, GSF produces approximately 1 billion pounds (50 million cases) of liquid products each year for iconic quick service restaurants. From its three U.S. production facilities, LPNA supplies an innovative array of quality-rich, liquid products like sauces, dressings, condiments, syrups, and dessert toppings to leading foodservice and retail customers. In October, the Association for Dressings and Sauces named GSF’s Caribbean Jerk Sauce for Zaxby’s restaurants as the industry’s 2020 Sauce of the Year.
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