The Shelby Report’s 2024 Southwest Wholesaler of the Year
With family focus, top wholesaler poised for growth across all areas President & CEO: ‘We work for the customer that we service every day – they’re also our boss’ Affiliated Foods Inc. in Amarillo, Texas, has been named The Shelby Report of the Southwest’s 2024 Wholesaler of the Year. Celebrating its 76th year in business, the co-op got its start when a group of six retailers came together to open their own warehouse and use their collective buying power to get better cost of goods and better compete in the marketplace. Randy Arceneaux, president and CEO, said Affiliated’s beginnings are similar to that of other co-op warehouses, but added that, “76 years later, we’re still here. Not to mention, we’re doing $1.7 billion a year in volume.” When the co-op was founded, its customer base was located within about 30 miles of the warehouse. Today, AFI is in eight states and serves more than 240 members at 740 different locations. Its trucks travel as far as 720 miles one way. Member retailRandy Arceneaux ers range in size from 5,000-65,000 square feet. “That’s the beauty of the independent operator. They have stores based on the need within the community they serve,” Arceneaux said. A small percentage of its members are convenience stores, such as Allsup’s and Yesway. Arceneaux noted Affiliated’s produce micro-packs were initially developed for Allsup’s, but the popularity of the item grew so much that several of its larger member stores carry them in a grab-and-go section in their produce departments. “It was intended for one group of members and it has become a key item for all.”
Board of directors’ role AFI has 13 members on its board of directors, representing the company’s trade area. The board’s role is to help shape the growth and development of the warehouse, along with ensuring they are doing what’s needed to help the independent operator survive, Arceneaux said. All board members are store owners. “They have to do a great job of walking into a board meeting, taking off their hat as a retailer and putting on a board member for Affiliated hat and keep focused on what’s good for the whole cooperative,” he said. “And if you always do what’s good for the whole of the cooperative, then you will always do what’s good for the whole of the membership, because they go hand in hand. I tell people this all the time. We are just a mirror image of a supermarket, but we don’t have a checkout stand. We’re just a big grocery store. “If we’re successful at wholesale, then it allows our membership to be successful at retail because we’re giving them the right programs, the right items, the right cost of goods to be competitive. So in the boardroom, their fiduciary responsibility – like mine as the CEO – is to make sure that we have those programs in place. We manage the operations here to be as lean and nimble as possible and find as many efficiencies as we can so that we can keep costs of goods down, so that the members can compete in their respective markets.” Please see page 16
AF-WOY.indd 15
2/29/24 4:15 PM