Golden State Foods, one of the largest diversified suppliers to the foodservice and retail industries, has promoted Ryan Hammer to corporate SVP and president of Quality Custom Distribution (QCD). From QCD’s Frisco, Texas headquarters, Hammer will continue overseeing all aspects of the QCD logistics business and now will assume responsibility for GSF’s Liquid Products North America (LPNA) sales team.
“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 EVP 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, Hammer joined GSF in 2017 as corporate VP and president of QCD and since then has contributed substantially to QCD’s business growth. Under Hammer’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, Hammer served in various leadership positions with PepsiCo across North America for more than 15 years. Throughout his career, he 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.
Hammer 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. Hammer currently resides in Dallas, Texas, with his family.
