On behalf of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, I would like to thank you for the coverage of my recent election as president of that association. Representing over 1,850 members and almost 5,000 restaurants and vendors, our trade association has made great strides in the education of our members, primarily in the areas of the school-to-career programs, sanitation training and alcoholic beverage service instruction.
Trade association usually has a primary member base with associate member base with associate members fulfilling the membership roster. (My father was a casket manufacturer, yet sat on the executive committee of the National Funeral Directors Association.) We clearly would not be one of the leading state restaurant associations without our associate members, and one of the finest sits right here in New Bedford.
I would like to congratulate Henry Wainer and his team at 2301 Purchase St. for the example they have set for, contemporary food vendors, along with his personal accomplishments. While many of us often share the roads with the attractively painted green and white trucks of Sid Wainer & Son, little do many know of Henry’s personal accomplishments and the accomplishment’s of his company.
Recently the Boston Globe published a lengthy story highlighting the success of the company and the wide range of products introduced to this country by Sid Wainer & Son. As we so often lament the growth of our local economy, we should herald the success of our local favorite son. Without Henry’s knowledge, I share with you some of the success that we have witnessed as a fellow member of the hospitality industry.
An honorary degree from Johnson & Wales University this past spring kept Henry from the opening debut of the much expanded Sid Wainer & Son booth at the National Restaurant Convention in Chicago. Long respected as an annual best of show winner at both the Northeast Food and Lodging Convention in Boston and the Fancy Food Show in New York, the booth of Sid Wainer & Son is an outstanding representation of the food service industry, the growth of the gourmet niche and New Bedford itself.
We are present in Boston when the awards for best booths are announced, and Sid Wainer & Son have been category winners for several years. The Globe article celebrated the success and growth of his business. All of these accomplishments are the signs of a strong business; however the bottom line to restaurants like ours is the service offered daily which includes guaranteed product and delivery and always a professional real person at the other end of the phone to take our order. We should not be the success we are without vendors like Sid Wainer & Son.
New Bedford has many local success stories. We should all be proud of Henry Wainer and the growth of his company, Sid Wainer & Son.