Leading dairy distributor kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign with a charitable donation to National Breast Cancer Foundation and CFS pink-coded gift basket weekly giveaway.
Marshfield, WI, October 04, 2023 – Nelson-Jameson, a national dairy distributor dedicated to delivering the exceptional, is launching a new campaign in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The company is kicking off this initiative with a $5,000 donation to National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) that will allow NBCF to provide support, resources, and hope to women in need.
“By partnering with NBCF, Nelson-Jameson is contributing to a cause that is important to both our customers and our employees,” says Amanda Nelson-Sasse, fourth-generation owner of Nelson-Jameson. “Our company is built on a people-first culture, and making an impact in people’s lives when they need it the most is part of our DNA.”
To demonstrate the company’s commitment to breast cancer awareness, Nelson-Jameson is also partnering with CFS Brands to feature a pink color-coded line at its strategic distribution centers and an online product give-away this October. Color coding areas in food processing facilities is an effective way improve food safety and prevent cross-contamination. Nelson-Jameson will give-away a total of five, CFS donated, pink-coded gift baskets containing pink products designed for cleaning in a color-coding system in a weekly drawing during the month of October. Additionally, Nelson-Jameson Foundation’s matching gift program will match donations employees make to 501(c)(3) charities like NBCF up to $2,500 per employee per year.
“NBCF is grateful to partner with the team at Nelson-Jameson in our mission of ‘Helping Women Now,’” says Emily Millender, Manager of Strategic Partnerships at NBCF. “Donations create a huge impact in screening and diagnostics, patient navigation, education and outreach, and support services that wouldn’t be possible without the generosity from our supporters.”
If you are interested in entering to win CFS’ pink color-coded items gift basket, visit https://m.shortstack.page/d40JJW or click on the promotion when you visit the home page at NeslonJameson.com.
Nelson-Jameson employees Kara Lineal, VP of Marketing; Heather Simcakowski, VP of Employee Experience; Mike Rindy, President; and Melissa Pasciak, Director of Event Marketing, hold up their company donation to the National Breast Cancer Fund to help raise breast cancer awareness.
Lights, Camera, Action! Nelson-Jameson’s leadership team is thrilled to have the company and its employees featured in a digital documentary series called “We Supply America: Leading Change in Distribution’s Future.” The series is in its third season and showcases eight companies operating as a “force for good.”
For Nelson-Jameson, acting as a force for good is nothing new. Father-son team Earl and Ted Nelson, two of the company’s founders and eventual sole owners, set out to create a family-based company culture. Amanda Nelson-Sasse, a fourth-generation owner, says, “Dad (John Nelson) always said that employees were also family. He’d have lunch with them and want to know what was happening in their lives. If they were dealing with any kind of hardship, he’d find a way to help.” Over time, Nelson-Jameson defined its company values as a culture based on honesty, integrity, and kindness, and a commitment to operating in an ethical manner with respect for people, the community, and the environment.
Nelson-Sasse continues this family-focused legacy with her work with the Nelson-Jameson Foundation (NJF). NJF anchors its contributions around three pillars: employees, the community, and the industry. More specifically, the foundation provides scholarships for employees’ families as well as industry students and grants across a range of needs, including community groups and hardship grants for employees. “Our company has had the same ethos for more than 75 years, and the foundation plays a critical role in the way we express and deliver on the Golden Rule culture,” says Sasse.
On the distribution side, Rindy says, “we have a five-year vision that embodies our core values, while bringing in cutting-edge technologies and methodologies that are key for strategic expansion in America and our ability to continue delivering the exceptional.” This is one reason Nelson-Jameson was featured in the We Supply America series – Founder and Executive Producer Dirk Beveridge specifically sought companies that are “leading with humanity.” Rindy notes that the company is focused on putting customers first and supporting employees’ career development. Nelson-Jameson maintains high retention of both customers and employees, while competitors are facing staffing shortages. Both Rindy and Nelson-Sasse attribute the high rate of employee retention to its people-first focus.
Beveridge conceived the idea for the We Supply America series during the pandemic, as he watched long-time customers and colleagues in distribution and supply chain companies face unprecedented challenges. He sought to create a broadcast-quality series to support the industry while also highlighting organizations with exemplary leaders, people-driven cultures, and community-focused operations. Nelson-Jameson’s We Supply America episode premieres live on LinkedIn on October 5 at 3:00 pm CT using this link. Immediately after the premiere, the film will be available for on-demand viewing at https://wesupplyamerica.net/featured-films/.
by Steve Funk | Senior Cheese Technologist at Nelson-Jameson
Cultures and enzymes are biological catalysts for dairy product production, but they’re also catalysts for the dairy industry as a whole. These hard-working elements work quietly behind the scenes to strengthen the industry’s brand reputation, increase dairy product market share, and delight consumers.
As the industry continues to adapt to changes and face new and long-standing challenges, cultures and enzymes help dairy advocates respond with answers. The trend toward plant-based alternatives is answered with vegetarian enzymes. Interest in health and wellness is answered with cultures that stimulate the probiotic benefits of yogurts, kefirs, and other cultured dairy. Here are five ways that cultures and enzymes are helping dairy processors.
Consumer Trends: Year after year, dairy processors aim to strike a balance between tradition and innovation. Consumers count on the availability of their favorite dairy products, but they also want new flavors and formats. Cultures and enzymes keep consumers happy by providing consistently produced dairy staples as well as inventive products that introduce new tastes and textures. They can also impact how well a cheese melts, browns, or blends, providing additional variety to culinary usages.
Food Safety: The use of cultures and enzymes is increasing because of its success in maintaining the integrity of dairy products and enhancing food safety. New bioprotective cultures can replace chemical preservatives, providing consumers and suppliers with preservative-free products that also have better shelf stability. Of course, cultures and enzymes are not a substitute for other safety protocols, such as knowing your milk source, understanding plant sanitation, and carefully following all steps in a cleaning process. Still, ongoing advances in cultures and enzymes allow dairy processors to inhibit yeast and mold growth, prevent spoilage, and better protect their products.
Health and Wellness: Ongoing demand for the gut-health benefits of probiotics continues to keep yogurt at the top of cultured dairy sales. Cultures and enzymes also support other health-driven consumer preferences such as reducing lactose or increasing organic consumption. Beyond product features, the health and wellness benefits of cultured dairy enhance awareness of and interest in dairy as a category and its place in the famous food pyramid.
Food innovation: Industry scientists continue to find new pathways for cultures and enzymes. Product developers can use a 50-year-old, patented culture and/or a novel culture developed within the last year to expand a product line – the old and new work in tandem with each other. Technical experts are creating new avenues for culture and enzyme usage, such as the use of non-traditional cultures to transform the effects in long-standing cheeses. Dairy processing operations benefit from culture and enzyme innovations as well. They can be added to help accelerate production or make it easier to utilize equipment.
Brand Strength: As dairy processors utilize cultures and enzymes to enhance product uniqueness, satisfy consumers, and find creative solutions to challenges, a bonus result is industry brand strength. Consumers stay engaged with a food & beverage category when it’s both consistent and innovative, and fosters trust in food safety and health benefits. In turn, this brand strength bolsters marketing and selling opportunities.
Cultures and enzymes continue to be the workhorses of cultured dairy products, but they’re also indirect lobbyists for the industry. Dairy processors can benefit from continued focus on the role of cultures and enzymes in all aspects of production.
If you need more insight on enzymes for your dairy product production, contact the experts at Nelson-Jameson (www.nelsonjameson.com).
About Steve Funk
Steve Funk is Senior Cheese Technologist at Nelson-Jameson. As a passionate dairy industry veteran with more than 40 years of experience, he provides customers with advice on ingredients, production processes, and manufacturing improvements to enhance cheese and fermented dairy product results. His innovative approach to quality cheese-making has helped dozens of customers create and launch unique cheese recipes that are market favorites today. Steve is an active member of numerous dairy industry associations and serves as a WDPA representative on the prestigious Master Cheesemakers Board. He supports the next generation of dairy innovators by serving as a NE-DBIC Dairy Processor Expansion Grant reviewer and a mentor for its Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Competition, an inaugural program managed by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement and the Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center. He holds a B.S. in Dairy Science and Animal Health from the University of Vermont. When not at work, he enjoys skiing, kayaking, gardening, and spending time with his wife of 38 years, Carla, and their daughter and grandson.
Top dairy distributor honored for its safe trucking operations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Marshfield, WI – September, 21 2023 | Nelson-Jameson, a leading distributor in the food and dairy industries with high standards in safety and compliance, has won a Fleet Safety Award from the Wisconsin Motor Carrier Association (WMCA) for the second consecutive year. The award honors the safest truckload fleets in Wisconsin.
Nelson-Jameson qualified for a Fleet Safety Award for Division 1 with a total of 486,256 accident-free miles in Wisconsin. The company maintains extensive safety training, job shadowing, and regular safety check-ins with employees to stress the importance of safety in the workplace.
“Nelson-Jameson places a high emphasis on safety through efficient systems and expert logistics to get our customers what they need when they need it,” said Mike Rindy, Nelson-Jameson president. “We are extremely proud to receive this safety award, which acknowledges our employees’ commitment to strive for an accident-free workplace.”
WMCA is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Wisconsin’s truck and transportation owners. With over 1,300 members, including Nelson-Jameson, the WMCA is affiliated with the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in Washington, D.C.
The award was given out at WMCA’s Safety Luncheon on September 19 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive honor Dakonya Freis and Devon Vogel
MARSHFIELD, WI – Sept 19, 2023 | Nelson-Jameson, a leading distributor in the food processing industry, announced that two of its female executives – Dakonya Freis, Vice President of Commercial Development, and Devon Vogel, Vice President of Customer Solutions – were honored with Women in Supply Chain Awards. Food Logistics, the only publication exclusively dedicated to covering the movement of product through the global cold food supply chain, and Supply & Demand Chain Executive, the only publication covering the entire global supply chain, named both Freis and Vogel as winners of its annual award. The honor pays tribute to female supply chain leaders and executives whose accomplishments, mentorship and examples set a foundation for women in all levels of a company’s supply chain network.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Dakonya and Devon for receiving this well-deserved recognition, and from such respected publications in our industry,” says Mike Rindy, President of Nelson-Jameson. “Dakonya and Devon embody the cultural values of Nelson-Jameson and lead with our guiding principles of kindness and mutual respect. These exceptional women continue to have measurable, positive impact on supply chain operations.”
According to Gartner’s eighth annual Women in Supply Chain Survey, women have made a strong comeback to the supply chain workforce in 2023, with gains at nearly every level of leadership. The survey also reports that women now make up 41% of the supply chain workforce, up from 39% in 2022. However, frontline representation continues to lag, with women filling just 31% of these roles.
“This year, we received over 400 submissions, the highest amount of applications not only for this award, but also for all of our awards. What’s more, 118 of those applications were submitted by male counterparts, nominating their boss, co-worker or associate. Last year, that figure was just at 75. Also this year, 39 women self-nominated, a tremendous uptick from last year’s award, which just saw 12 self-nominations. This shows progress. This shows hope that one day, we won’t need an award like this because men and women in the supply chain will be equal,” says Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive. “While there’s still more work to be done, what we’re doing is working. From truck drivers to CEOs, what these winners are doing matters to the future of all supply chains.”
“Women have been making a significant impact in supply chain management, contributing to the growth and innovation of the supply chain industry. As more women join the supply chain workforce, they bring diverse perspectives that can help address complex supply chain problems and improve global supply chain operations. It is important that we empower, recognize and elevate these achievements through initiatives like the Women in Supply Chain Award, as seen through the overwhelming response. Congratulations to all the winners, those who nominated others and the bravery of those who nominated themselves,” adds Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, founder of Let’s Talk Supply Chain podcast and Blended Pledge project, both exclusive sponsors of the Women in Supply Chain award.
Go to https://foodl.me/fdx1zi to view the full list of winners. Recipients will be honored at this year’s Women in Supply Chain Forum, set to take place Nov. 14-15, 2023 in Atlanta.
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