PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 2, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AdvancePierre Foods, a leading supplier of value-added protein and handheld convenience products to the foodservice, school, retail, club, vending and convenience store markets, has signed a multi-year contract with ICG Commerce, the leading provider of comprehensive procurement solutions. Through this partnership, which began in late 2010, ICG Commerce will help AdvancePierre Foods reduce costs and accelerate savings opportunities from its recent merger and acquisitions. The partnership will focus on continuously optimizing spending in the areas of direct packaging and logistics, indirect maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and miscellaneous packaging.
AdvancePierre Foods chose ICG Commerce based on the company's Specialized Procurement Infrastructure, which infuses teams of dedicated category experts, real-time market intelligence and proprietary technology into a comprehensive spend management process. The process will help maximize savings and expand the reach of AdvancePierre's procurement operations.
"AdvancePierre remains focused on supplying its customers with innovative and high-quality products in the most cost-effective manner possible," said Mike Zelkind, Senior VP of Operations for AdvancePierre Foods. "Our company has doubled in size with last year's merger with Advance Food Company and Advance Brands and our recent acquisition of Barber Foods. We were looking for solutions that would help us accelerate synergy savings. We will be able to immediately use the infrastructure that ICG Commerce has built to help us better leverage our combined spend and drive savings synergies far faster than we could do on our own."
AdvancePierre Foods joins other leading companies like Pinnacle Foods, Kimberly-Clark and Chiquita who recognize the positive impact of smartly managing non-product spend. With rising commodity costs and consumer price sensitivity putting continued pressure on margins, consumer products companies are increasingly looking to non-product related spend as a new source of significant savings that can be reinvested in growth and innovation.
"AdvancePierre Foods has a progressive management team that is looking to take the organization to a new level," said Carl Guarino, CEO of ICG Commerce. "They have recognized that rapid growth and recent merger and acquisitions have created an opportunity to optimize spending and drive significant savings. Beyond driving short term synergies by partnering with ICG Commerce, AdvancePierre Foods can immediately begin reaping the benefits of our world-class procurement infrastructure and its embedded expertise, market insights and benchmarks to help transform procurement and support its growth initiatives."
About ICG Commerce, Inc.
ICG Commerce, the leading procurement solution provider, is driving a fundamental change in the way today's businesses achieve financial agility and fund growth. ICG Commerce is the only procurement solution provider that has built a specialized infrastructure dedicated to helping companies optimize indirect and other under-resourced areas of spend and drive bottom line savings that strengthen their businesses. ICG Commerce is a privately held company and member of ICG's (Nasdaq:ICGE) network of partner companies.
The ICG Commerce, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6920
About AdvancePierre Foods, Inc.
AdvancePierre Foods is a leading supplier of value-added protein and handheld convenience products to the foodservice, school, retail, club, vending and convenience store channels. The company makes and distributes more than 3,000 packaged sandwiches, fully cooked chicken and beef products, Philly-style steak, stuffed chicken breasts, and bakery products. Headquartered in Cincinnati, AdvancePierre Foods employs 4,500 people and operates processing facilities in Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa, Maine, and North and South Carolina, with bakeries in North Carolina and Oklahoma. AdvancePierre is currently owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P., a Los Angeles-based investment firm.