Welcome to the Honor Foods Family
June 10th, 2022
Honor Foods, a Burris Logistics Company, has agreed to purchase Sommer Maid Creamery — and welcomes the Sommer Maid Team into our family.
A Warm Welcome from Walt
Welcome to Honor Foods, a Burris Logistics company! We are very excited to have you join our team. We’ve had great respect for Sommer Maid Creamery, i.e., its dairy heritage, its brands, and the quality of its product portfolio. But all of those are simply a consequence of your experience, your knowledge, and your passion. With you, we expect to leverage our collective dairy expertise and to further our reputation as the preferred foodservice redistributor along the east coast – and perhaps beyond!
I understand how unsettling this can be for you. Many of you are long-tenured Sommer Maid associates, and we respect your loyalty to the Sexton family. But know that the same family “feel” exists within Honor and Burris. We, too, have very long-tenured team members that have enjoyed rewarding careers within a very special, family-oriented culture. So, let me assure you that Honor Foods is a great place to work, and we look forward to introducing you to the Honor Team in our new home on the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia.
Let’s do something special TOGETHER. I promise you that you’ll find this next chapter fun and fulfilling – individually and collectively. Let’s Make It Happen!
Walt Tullis
President of Honor Foods
Being a Team Member at Honor Foods
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Summary
June 10th, 2022 – Honor Foods, a Burris Logistics Company, has agreed to purchase Sommer Maid Creamery, a Foodservice Redistributor with Dairy expertise. The acquisition will broaden Honor Foods Dairy portfolio and strengthen its position as a Foodservice Redistributor within the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Further, the acquisition also provides Honor with immediate access to the southeast where Sommer Maid has an established business.
Sommer Maid will operate “as is” for two weeks before becoming fully integrated into Honor Foods. During these two weeks, Sommer Maid and Honor Foods team members will work together to ensure a smooth transition for our customers, vendors, and third-party providers. A Monday 6/27 “go-live” is planned whereby all vendor and customer orders will be processed within the Honor network with product pick-ups and deliveries occurring within the Honor Philadelphia facility.
In the short term, a temporary network between the Honor facility and the Pipersville office will be created to allow Sommer Maid Team Members the opportunity to work from that office after the 6/27 go-live. Over time we will transition Team Members to the Philadelphia office.
HR Summary Statement
All Sommer Maid Team Members will be asked to office within Honor Foods’ new facility in Northeast Philadelphia and the Pipersville office will eventually close. As with all Honor Foods Team Members, the ability to work remotely will be determined by the Manager.
- Who will I report to after the transition? Will my role change as an Honor Foods Team Member?
- Reporting relationships will remain unchanged through the initial integration period. It will be during this collaborative effort that we will be in a position to understand each team member’s experience, skills, and career aspirations. Most Sommer Maid team members will be reporting to an Honor Foods manager following the integration period.
- Will my hourly rate/salary change?
- Compensation will not change for Sommer Maid team members.
- Honor has a rate and salary range established for all positions. Should your compensation exceed that range, you will be grandfathered and continue to receive your current compensation.
- Honor also has an annual Incentive Plan in which all non-union team members participate. So, it’s very likely that if your current compensation falls within the range for your job, you’ll have the opportunity to earn more based on the performance of the company.
- What is the Honor Foods pay cycle?
- Bi-weekly with an option to draw on earned compensation prior to the scheduled payday.
- Will I have the same health and insurance benefits with Honor Foods?
- In most cases, the health benefits are very comparable and involve less out-of-pocket expense.
- Will I have the same dental benefits with Honor Foods?
- In most cases, the health benefits are very comparable and involve less out-of-pocket expense.
- Does Honor Foods offer a 401(k) plan?
- Yes. Burris offers a 6% dollar-for-dollar match
- Will my PTO balance transfer over?
- The Honor Foods / BL policy allows for up to 80 hours of PTO to be carried over. Sommer Maid will compensate their team members for PTO in excess of 80 hours following the acquisition
- Who should I reach out to with HR questions?
- Ann Polites, Director HR Honor Foods; Phone Number 267-479-1404, or email at ann.polites@honorfoods.com
- Alyssa Dooner, HR Generalist; Phone Number 267-479-1403 or email at Alyssa.Dooner@honorfoods.com
IT Summary Statement
- If I have questions about Honor applications or system access, who should I contact?
- For help request with the Honor Sales and/or Purchasing system, please contact
- Sia Ebrahimi (sia.ebrahimi@honorfoods.com) at 267-479-1442
- Dave Pomroy (dave.pomroy@honorfoods.com) at 267-479-1441
- For all other help requests please contact the Burris Help Desk at 302-839-5006 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Will I keep my current desktop/laptop?
- Yes, provided the hardware has the ability to support Honor Foods’ operating systems and software applications. Changes will need to be made to your hardware to ensure system security and allow remote access for our help desk team when support is needed.
- Will I still be able to work remotely?
- Yes. Our goal is to systematically ensure that you will be able to access all areas of the network that are needed to complete your tasks.
- Will my phone number and email address change?
- Yes. Timing to be determined.
- Will I still have access to my old emails when I am moved to Gmail?
- The Burris and Honor teams will do our best to retain as much email history as possible during the transition to Gmail.