The Gold Club

Cornerstone Values at Gordon Food Service

• Customer is King
• Integrity
• Philosophy of Sharing
• War Room Mentality
• Rewards for Performance
• Everyone is Important
• Networking Organization

Distributing 125+ Years of Excellence in Gold and Diamond Custom Jewelry

Gordon Food Service (GFS) is North America’s largest family-owned food distribution company, with a rich history dating back to 1897. According to Forbes, GFS was the 15th-largest privately held company in the United States in 2024.

GFS’s growth is powered by recognizing the backbone of their business: non-management employees in transportation, warehouse, and sales.

For over 40 years, the Gold Club has driven operational excellence by honoring the top 4% of performers with a custom gem-embedded ring. Each subsequent achievement adds another diamond in a live ceremony, creating a tangible legacy of sustained excellence.

“Before Gold Club, there were only a few awards for warehouse, transportation, and office teams,” explains Jennifer Fuelling, Executive Assistant to the Board of Directors and Gold Club administrator. Jennifer has been with GFS for 29 years, after beginning her career there as a summer intern.

This recognition gap led to the creation of the Gold Club in 1982—a prestigious custom award ring program exclusively for non-managers who demonstrate exceptional performance.

“Before Gold Club, there were only a few awards for warehouse, transportation, and office teams.”

Gordon Food Service partnered with Terryberry in the early 2000s to elevate the quality of their custom jewelry.

Today, this partnership helps GFS maintain a cohesive culture across:

• 22,000+ employees spanning over 20 states and Canada
• 28 years of growth, becoming the 15th-largest privately held company in the U.S.
• Approximately 200 retail stores and multiple distribution centers
• Diverse teams including warehouse, transportation, sales, and office staff
• Newly acquired specialty companies

“Gold Club is my favorite part of the job,” Jennifer shares with genuine enthusiasm. “I love seeing employees getting recognized for their hard work and dedication and everything about the awards process.”

Keeping a Celebratory Culture Alive Across a Growing Enterprise

Like many large organizations with distributed workforces, Gordon Food Service faced several challenges in establishing and maintaining their recognition program:

Scaling Up Culture Consistently

• With employees spread across distribution centers, stores, transportation, and office locations, creating consistent recognition was difficult
• Finding a recognition partner who could provide consistent quality and service across multiple locations became increasingly important as the program grew
• New employees, remote workers, and recently acquired international specialty companies needed to be integrated into the GFS culture
• Traditional in-person celebrations became impossible during 2020-2021 due to COVID, threatening program continuity

Creating Cultural Currency with Timeless Recognition Pieces

“Recognition is important throughout our company, with Gold Club as the highest honor,” Jennifer explains.

The physical award—a gold ring—creates ongoing meaning. At GFS locations across the country, the rings are a conversation piece that sparks connections between new and tenured employees. The program inspires people to discuss performance openly with their managers and work their way up to the exclusive Gold Club status.

Leading by Example: Gold Club Gives Executives Insight into Recognition’s ROI

“Our leadership team reviews every nomination carefully,” Jennifer explains. “They look at measurable contributions and examples of employees living our values. This gives our executives real insight into the exceptional work happening throughout the company.

“After Gold Club winners are selected, our leadership team meets again to choose what we call ‘People of the Year’ who get to go on a trip with the Gordon family,” says Jennifer.

This year’s destination was Hawaii, while previous destinations include Bermuda, St Barth’s, and Rome just to name a few.

During company events, leaders share specific examples of how winners helped customers, supported teammates, or went beyond their regular duties. These stories bring company values to life and inspire others.

“Our leadership team reviews every nomination carefully. This gives our executives real insight into the exceptional work happening throughout the company.”

Recognition on the Road: From HQ to 177 Retail Locations Across 13 States

GFS takes a data-driven approach when recognizing their distributed workforce. The process is simple and effective thanks to having clear visibility of performance metrics, which comes with operating a logistics business at scale.

“For example, warehouse selectors have their speed, accuracy, and error rates measured daily. Transportation tracks deliveries, and sales monitors customer accounts and margins,” Jennifer explains. “Your manager can look at these reports and know exactly who their Gold Club candidates should be. But it’s not just about numbers—they also need good character and a positive attitude.”

These operations teams make up the majority of the Gold Club’s Hall of Fame, which is exclusively for fourth-time winners. They earn a special black onyx ring with four diamonds to represent the proportion of the achievement.

“We have over 200 people in the Hall of Fame now, and they’re mostly from operations—transportation and warehouse employees,” Jennifer shares.

This approach helps engage workers who might otherwise feel disconnected from company culture. “Our transportation employees, especially, are spread out doing their daily routes. They might only see each other briefly in the morning or afternoon,” Jennifer notes. “When they all come together for our annual celebration, the cheering and happiness they have for their fellow workers is just incredible.”

Terryberry Shows Up to Annual Celebrations to Set Achievements in Stone

“Terryberry has become part of our celebration experience. Their team comes to our events, polishes rings on-site, adds diamonds, and handles special requests right there,” Jennifer reflects. “When someone earns another win, they can have their diamond added that same evening.”

Terryberry’s on-site presence at celebrations has created powerful moments for recipients. “When we’ve had last-minute changes before an event, Terryberry has always come through for us, sometimes with just a day or two notice.”

“Terryberry has become part of our celebration experience. Their team comes to our events, polishes rings on-site, adds diamonds, and handles special requests right there.”

Measurable Success from Meaningful Recognition

Gold Club rings create lasting reminders of achievement. People wear them proudly, which starts conversations with new employees about what it takes to earn this recognition.”

The Gold Club program has delivered measurable results across multiple areas of the business:

• 43 years of continuous Gold Club program rewards and recognition
• 20+ year partnership with Terryberry ensures consistent quality of product and service throughout company growth
• New employees proactively work toward a personal goal to attain Gold Club status, by bringing it up in performance reviews
• Gold Club success sparked additional recognition programs, including the Hall of Fame and the People of the Year award
• Hall of Famers—including retired alumni —get special recognition at events

“When they announced the Gold Club winners, their coworkers went insane— jumping up and down and clapping,“ Jennifer shares. “Seeing everyone so excited for someone else, not themselves, is just remarkable.”

“When they announced the Gold Club winners, their coworkers went insane— jumping up and down and clapping… Seeing everyone so excited for someone else, not themselves, is just remarkable.”

Recognizing Gordon’s Greatness with 1,000+ Custom Awards Each Year

The Gold Club exemplifies how a thoughtfully designed, consistently administered recognition program can become central to the cultural identity of a growing organization –but GFS doesn’t stop at the Gold Club. Several different major custom award types are administered across the organization each year, recognizing over 1,000 of its 22,000 employees for their excellence. Every single award is custom-made with the name and preferences of the recipient, and the branded designs are updated every year for a fresh look and feel. Most of those awarded are non-management team members working in transportation, sales, and warehouse.

Through their partnership with Terryberry, Gordon Food Service’s recognition traditions combine meaningful symbolism with quality craftsmanship and responsive service—transforming recognition from a transactional event into a defining cultural experience.