At El Pollo Loco’s 2023 Leadership Conference October 9-11, Direct Pack had the honor of receiving El Pollo Loco’s Food & Supplies Award. Due to the pandemic, it was the first time in four years the leadership conference was held, and it was a great event with several hundred participants representing management, corporate functions, franchisees, restaurant managers, vendors, and other partners. The theme was “Winning Together”.
And winning together was what we did! We received the award both for the innovative design and more sustainable solution we developed for them and launched in early 2020, and for the exceptional service we were able to deliver during the pandemic. It was true team work both internally and together with key people in El Pollo Loco, that made us succeed with both. Everyone involved from Sales to Design & Engineering to Tooling to Demand Planning, Production, Customer Service and Logistics for the launch of the new packaging, and later including Marketing & Sales Operations, Accounting, and the Warehouse to track inventory and make sure it shipped out as soon as possible when we were short of stock. This is where we at Direct Pack excel in innovation and execution, when we focus and do it together as a team across all functions. We are delighted and very honored to receive this recognition, which is a proof of the power of collaboration and team work.
From left to right: Annika Randrup, DPI; Kathy Tse, El Pollo Loco; Scot Ellingson, Access Partners; Amanda Hamann, DPI
El Pollo Loco is a successful fast-food chain well-known for its fire-grilled chicken, fresh quality ingredients and family connection, and they are very proud of their origin story. Mainly based in the south-west of the United States, they are now establishing restaurants in new states and have ambitions and ample room to grow across the nation. With a new marketing strategy, they are targeting families as well as young adults, and their messaging across all channels will feature grilled chicken, fresh ingredients, happy people, and energetic music. We have a great partnership with El Pollo Loco, and we are looking forward to continue our journey of winning together!
