Chief Executive Officer & Director, US FOODS HOLDING CORP
US Foods CEO discusses the company's momentum and the role it plays in the foodservice industry
US Foods CEO Dave Flitman joins #NYSEFloorTalk to discuss the company's momentum and the role it plays in the foodservice ...
About David Flitman
In September 2024, Flitman stated that US Foods had built "great momentum" as an organization, citing record results in the second quarter. He noted that the company had achieved nine consecutive quarters of market share gains in the independent restaurant segment, and reported 7% organic growth with 177% earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) growth. Flitman described the company's strategy as resting on four pillars: culture, productivity and efficiency, growth, and profit. Flitman has also discussed his views on company culture. In a 2019 address, he said that culture is something a leader can influence even when they cannot influence every hiring decision. He outlined five tenets of his company's culture: safety as the top priority, integrity, customer priority, a commitment to continuous improvement ("be the best"), and valuing associates ("people count").
Transcript (14 segments)
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Judy Shaw0:09
I'm Judy Shaw for NYC floor Talk. Joining me today is Dave Flitman, he is the CEO at US Foods. Dave, it's wonderful to have you here. Thanks for joining me today.
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David Flitman0:17
Great to be with you, Judy. Thanks for having me.
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Judy Shaw0:18
My pleasure. So now Dave, you're ringing the closing bell today. Tell me, what are you celebrating? What are you highlighting?
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David Flitman0:25
Excited to be here to ring the closing bell, and we're really celebrating the great momentum that we've built as an organization here. It's really exciting to be here. It's exciting to represent our 29,000 Associates.
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Judy Shaw0:34
Okay, so why don't you tell me about this momentum that you're seeing?
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David Flitman0:38
Sure. The company has been on a journey for the past several years to just accelerate momentum in all sorts of areas of the business: our growth, our profitability. And we're here today, I'm eight months into my tenure at US Foods. We're here to put a stake in the ground and celebrate the progress, but also to look ahead and think about what an exciting future we have here as an organization.
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Judy Shaw0:56
Now Dave, what is US Foods role in the food service industry?
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David Flitman1:00
Great question. We're a large Food Service distributor. People oftentimes focus on the food aspect, and we're all about great food, but we're all about servicing our customers and doing that well and efficiently. Importantly, we're helping them solve their problems, whether it be labor challenges or menu profitability, with a combination of our technology, the great chefs and salespeople that we have, along with our restaurant operations consultants. We're just helping our customers operate better.
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Judy Shaw1:28
Now you recently released your Q2 earnings. Tell me, were you pleased with the company's momentum?
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David Flitman1:32
I was very pleased. We had record results in the second quarter. Importantly, we have three targeted segments for growth in the company. First is independent restaurants, and I was pleased to report in the second quarter that we've now had nine consecutive quarters of taking market share in that space. So it just proves when we focus on a space, we can be hugely successful. The other two segments that we're targeting are Healthcare and Hospitality. We had 7% organic growth, and importantly, all that translated to 177% EBITDA growth on the bottom line. So we're winning on the top line, we're winning on the bottom line. That's good for our Associates, it's great for our shareholders.
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Judy Shaw2:09
All right Dave, now as you look ahead, tell me what are you most excited about as you capitalize on this momentum?
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David Flitman2:12
I'm excited about our ability to execute better and just continue to help our customers solve their problems. Importantly, we've been working on our strategy inside the company and making that simple. There are four key pillars to our strategy. Culture, which is very important to our organization, it's almost palpable the focus that we have on our customers and our Associates. The second pillar is all about productivity and efficiency. The third pillar is growth, and the fourth pillar is profit. Putting those all together in a simple way that's meaningful not only for our external stakeholders but also for our Associates.
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Judy Shaw2:49
All right well Dave, it's been wonderful to talk with you. Thanks for joining me. Enjoyed it. Thanks so much.
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David Flitman2:52
Thank you, appreciate it.