MR H. SNYDER TO VISIT CITY

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29024, 13 October 1959, Page 9

MR H. SNYDER TO VISIT CITY

U.S. Grocery Trade Leader

Mr Howard Snyder, of Oklahoma City, United States, who is an important figure in the United States grocery trade, arrived in New Zealand last week for a two months’ visit as the guest of the Independent Grocers’ Alliance.

Mr Snyder, accompanied by his wife, will reach Christchurch in a fortnight’s time. Until recently, Mr Snyder held the position of director, vicepresident and state manager for the Fleming Company, which is one of the outstanding grocery operations in the United States. The Fleming Company is the Independent Grocers’ Alliance supply centre in the area in which it operates, covering Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Mr Snyder started the Oklahoma City Division in 1945, and by 1947 its turnover had reached 1,170,000 dollars (£425.000) a year. Today, the same centre has a turnover of just on 50,000,000 dollars (£14,250,000) a year—the largest grocery volume in the state of Oklahoma. The total Fleming Company’s wholesale turnover is about £45,000.000 a year.

Mr and Mrs Snyder will attend Independent Grocers’ Alliance conventions in both the North and South Islands, as well as lectures and meetings. Mr Snyder will be able to tell grocers about the changing pattern of food distribution in the United States, and to give a wellinformed opinion of likely developments in New Zealand.