I am happy to report that we have had a really strong year moving away from the
pandemic. 2022 has ushered in exciting developments for CW in terms of new acquisitions, such as our recent procurement of Chef Middle East (CME), a specialty food distributor with operations in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman. The addition of CME (along with other notable acquisitions such as Guaranteed and G.N.S.), helps to build our global presence and ignite a new international identity.
Challenges still resonate from the pandemic, such as difficulty hiring labor and supply and equipment shortages. However, I am very proud of our CW team for learning to tackle these obstacles creatively. We have become extremely facile at rolling with whatever punches come our way while still going beyond the call of duty for our customers.
One of the greatest revelations for me this year is recognizing the incredible resilience and talent of the people in our organization. Witnessing how our employees step up, overcome challenges and take on more responsibility when necessary is truly astounding. A great example of this is when we moved from our former warehouse in LA into the new warehouse while integrating a newly acquired company into the space simultaneously. Everyone from leadership to sales and operations continued to run the business as ‘normal’ and executed very efficiently through the dramatic transition without a complaint. The team just made it happen.
CW is a company that is people driven. Exemplifying this, I’d like to give a huge shout-out to our unsung heroes, our amazing CW drivers who continue to serve our customers, no matter the weather or shortages in staffing. In 2022, our drivers, the backbone of our company, made more stops and worked a lot more hours to compensate for staffing shortages.
CW’s work environment is rooted in our collective passion for excellence. It is this common devotion that inspires me and makes me love my job. Having the same values also helps to build our company’s culture and foster a positive community. Additionally, there is nothing more exciting than promoting the trajectory of the rise of individuals within CW, which is ultimately my biggest goal; developing our people into future leaders.
Stepping into 2023, our customers can look forward to the fruits of the harvest in terms of CW’s diverse investments in our infrastructure. Among these advancements, our customers will benefit from better service, more efficient and robust
technology (with our online platform), and a rich extension of product offerings. We’ve also empowered our CW team with a plethora of dynamic and talented new employees, which will take our customer service to an even higher level and provide enhanced resources.
More than anything at this time of year especially, I want everyone in our CW family to know how much I appreciate you. We wouldn’t be here today without you. It is your talent, hard work, and dedication to excellence that make CW the success that it is today.
I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season of enjoying great food and merriment with friends and family and celebrating the prosperity of our collective labor.
Happy New Year, everyone!
