by Ashley Bates/staff writer
Chris Miller, who was tapped as the president of Associated Grocers of Florida on Nov. 15, said he plans to run the organization on the principles that his father, Calvin Miller, instilled in him throughout his life.
“I believe in straight, honest business. Don’t ever deviate from honesty. That is the lifelong lesson that I have learned from a child. Be honest in all of your negotiations and honest with people and honest to yourself. That’s what my father has taught me and that’s what I hope to teach my children,” said Christopher Miller, whose father Cal served for 17 years as president of AG of Florida.
AG of Florida is Florida’s largest wholesale grocery distribution company with about 600 members in Florida, the Caribbean along with South and Central America. The board of directors unanimously appointed Miller to the position. He also replaces his father as longtime president.
“I started taking the reins to take over three years ago,” Christopher said. “This was only a formality. I had been running the company because of Cal and the board’s wisdom. It was something that was planned out well in advance and adapted to.”
Cal Miller will stay on as AG of Florida’s CEO.
Christopher Miller brings over 27 years of experience in the food distribution business, starting his career with Bozzuto’s of Cheshire, Conn. He relocated to Florida 16 years ago to join Associated Grocers of Florida as Director of Distribution and soon after was promoted to VP of Distribution and Transportation
“I’ve been in the industry since I was a little boy. I’ve done about every job that can be done. I started off in distribution and transportation but since then, I’ve gotten involved in every facet that there could be,” Miller said. “From being an IGA board member, to a ShurFine board member and also, I am a ROFDA board member. I sit on many boards and on the same note, I have a lot of contacts and relationships with people throughout the country.”
During his tenure as COO, Miller has engineered many new initiatives that are focused on the growth and success of his customers. Miller has continued to diversify his expertise in food distribution, expanding his responsibilities with AG to include sales, marking and procurement which solidified his role as COO, a position he held for five years.
“However, I believe we are experts in the export marketplace. I get the ability to travel throughout Central and South America as well as the Caribbean,” he said. “I pretty much travel sometimes on a weekly basis, sometimes monthly, depending on what I can do with my schedule to get to my overseas customers. We have customers come join us for our bi-annual food shows but I believe that the only way you can truly service people is if you can truly understand their needs in the business.
“Therefore, I make it my mission to visit my entire customer base, their islands, to be able to understand their exact needs in their market place, their product needs and then I bring my team over to bring those plans to fruition.”
In the coming year Miller said his goals remain the same as the past three years – sustainable business growth.
“Our goals are sustainable growth through bringing on and showing more customers who AG is and increasing our shares of purchases from our customers through their co-op and also business processes,” he said. “But literally, we are looking at every single business process. I have committees formed to improve every function of everything that we do.”
