Flanagan Foodservice Announces Dan Lafrance’s Retirement and Appointment of Bill Stafford to President & Chief Executive Officer

Kitchener, ON – January 4th, 2024 – Flanagan Foodservice Inc. announced today that Dan Lafrance, currently President & CEO, is retiring effective March 2024.  Concurrent with this change, Bill Stafford is joining the company on January 15, 2024 and will succeed Mr. Lafrance as President & Chief Executive Officer of the company.

Mr. Lafrance joined Flanagan Foodservice in 2019 as the first non-family President and then took on the added role of CEO in 2021 with oversight for all of its operating companies.

“Under Dan’s leadership over the past 5 years, the company has doubled its revenue, completed its largest-ever acquisition, successfully navigated through the pandemic, and made significant improvements in our operations.  Through his perseverance and commitment to Flanagan’s, our people and, of course, our valued customers, he played a vital role in carrying on Flanagan’s legacy.  I want to thank Dan for his immense contribution to our success and wish him the best in his retirement,” said Dan Flanagan, Executive Chairman.

Mr. Stafford joins the company with a wealth of food and distribution experience gained in leadership roles throughout Canada and the United States.  He most recently served as Senior Vice President of Foodservice for Shamrock Foods Company in Arizona.  Prior roles include Division President for US Foods in New York as well as President of Omstead Foods in Canada.  Originally from the Maritimes, he received his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of New Brunswick and has a Chartered Accountancy (CA-CPA) designation. 

“Bill brings a profound understanding of the complexities and opportunities of our business and industry.  This combined with his collaborative leadership style and strong customer focus, will allow him to quickly build on Flanagan’s success of providing foodservice operators with our unique level of service.  We are thrilled to have someone with such an impressive background join us to lead Flanagan Foodservice Inc. and its subsidiary companies, including Roseland Produce in Ontario, Capital Foodservice in New Brunswick and F.J. Wadden & Sons in Newfoundland”, said Dan Flanagan.

“I’m extremely excited to join Flanagan Foodservice.  As the largest Canadian family-owned foodservice distributor, Flanagan’s success is built through an incredible family culture rooted in an unwavering commitment to servicing customers.  Their deep relationships with suppliers and other key partners ensures focus and support for their customers’ success.  The company has an amazing team of associates committed to these values and has been repeatedly coveted as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies.  I look forward to building upon the success that Dan Lafrance and the entire team have put in place”, said Bill Stafford.

Mr. Stafford and Mr. Lafrance will work closely together as they transition responsibilities over the next few months.