Sam Neil: A Portrait in Excellence

by Stuart Daw

It was with great pleasure that I had the opportunity at the OCVSA show to present the award given in my name for “Coffee Excellence” to Sam Neil . The selection process is impeccable, with the voting done by former recipients, and only the past president knows the result until the actual moment of presentation. Receipt of it made Sam the only person to win both it and the Don Story award, given for his contribution to vending.

It also gave me a chance to rap with Sam about the past, and some of the funny if hectic things that happened. Sam was born in Belfast , Ireland , and at age eight came to Winnipeg . It was 1950, the year of the great Red River flood that inundated the city, and Sam was wondering if his arrival could possibly have had anything to do with it.

He had taken a job in sales for the Manitoba branch of Pells Restaurant Supply Ltd., a sub of Lyons Tea and Coffee which had just been acquired by Schweppes Powell of Montreal . Pells encompassed six branches in Western Canada and three franchises, Kamloops , Thunder Bay , and Orillia . Stuart’s had bought all the corporate charters, but as to inventory, only the coffee and food products, along with just enough of the “Table Top Settings” inventory to qualify for using up past tax losses. Cassidy’s, a store fixture company doing business throughout all of Canada , had agreed to buy the hardware inventory, which had been a large part of the Pells operation. I agreed to take responsibility for downsizing all the physical facilities, most of which were too large for the trimmed down profile we needed.

The Lyons president, Stan Edwards and I were taking a whirlwind spin through the West to meet the managers and staff of all six operating companies. The trip had to be done quickly, for none of the managers knew the business had been sold. We were to visit Winnipeg one day, Regina and Saskatoon the next, Edmonton and Calgary the next, and Victoria , BC on the fourth. It was on this trip that I met Sam.

First a bit of background. We had held a draw in the Montreal head office of Schweppes Powell to see who got which of Pells’ employees. It was something like a football draft, with me winning the toss and getting first round draft choice. It seemed reasonable to pick the regional supervisor for the entire west, Gil Wagner, stationed in Regina (that city, for the coffee historian, was the birthplace of Pells Coffee, started by a man named Jack Pells. Lyons had taken it and made it into a multi-branch operation).

Cassidy’s then chose Henry Frier, Regina manager of the West’s only profitable branch at the time. ( Henry eventually rose to higher rank, and after Stuart ’s, then named Goodhost Foods, had sold to Nestles, he founded Gold Cup Coffee, a successful Vancouver based company.) I then chose Tony Gurski, the Calgary manager, and so on back and forth down the list of employees and their roles. When we came to sales personnel, I picked Sam Neil.

The president of Cassidy’s was to have accompanied us through the entire Western swing, but he had a social engagement on the Sunday evening before the Winnipeg visit, assuring us he would meet us in Regina Monday night. Then a crisis developed. Gil, my first round draft pick whom Stan, the Lyons president, had told to come to Winnipeg from Regina for the first meeting, had already decided to go into equipment supply on his own, and announced this intention as our plane touched down in Regina.

On the drive from the airport to the Hotel Saskatchewan, I complained about losing Number One. But Stan assured me I could now have Henry Frier, and still have all my other choices, including Sam Neil. “But how can I, when Cassidy’s made him its first round choice,” I said. Stan assured me he would handle it, but I had my doubts.

At dinner that evening with the three principals all there, Stan brightly announced, “Well, Stuart, we get to meet your man Frier tomorrow.” The Cassidy’s president immediately cried foul. “No, Stan. I sell deep fryers. That’s how I remember that I get Frier.” I held my breath. But Stan smoothly and with no hesitation said, “No, no. I know what you’re doing. You’re indulging in word association. You sell deep fryers, So you DON’T get Frier.” Next morning the Cassidy’s man never showed up for breakfast. He had flown home from where he called to say he was withdrawing from the people pool. That meant I got Frier, Tony, Sam, and the pick of all the others, some of which had to be immediately terminated in the name of our financial survival.

But by 1973 we had become the largest foodservice coffee company in Canada, with many managers reporting directly to me, giving me too wide a span of control for comfort. It was time to superimpose another layer of management in some areas of the company.

Sam was the top salesman in the West, and we had expanded in vending to the point that we needed someone to be number two in our newly formed vending sales department. Sam got the job and we moved him to Toronto. When his immediate supervisor wanted to go into another line of business, Sam was promoted to Vending Products Manager. As such he became very knowledgeable about every aspect of vending.

As a measure of his success, of all the great Stuarts/Goodhost senior personnel who were there when I severed my relationship with the company in 1977, Sam was the “last man standing” a short time after it was sold to Nestles in 1984.” This is testament not only to Sam’s value as a vending expert, but to his ability to build irreplaceable personal relationships in what is after all a relationship industry.

As Sam and I were reminiscing about the past, he recalled my visit in the winter following the acquisition. I had flown in on a super cold Winnipeg night. Going to the office first thing next morning, I noticed the secretary was there, but not manager Dave Parker, or Sam. When they finally arrived after 11:00 a.m., I guess I seemed a bit annoyed. But they had a terrific alibi. It seems that before dawn that morning, Sam’s van had caught fire from its “overheated heater,” the kind you leave on all night to keep the merchandise from freezing. He called manager Dave in some distress, saying the fire reels were presiding over the burning van. Dave then told him to send the fire reels to his place, because his own car had fire roaring out of the exhaust from a frozen accelerator that he couldn’t calm down, and his driveway was being melted by the flames.

That was only one of many great images recalled from the past. Of course Sam has now blossomed as an entrepreneur in the supply of products to the vending and OCS trade. He is admired by everyone, and surely worthy of the awards and accolades he has won. I know I speak for all in this industry in wishing him the best of success in future.

The Heritage Coffee Company, Ltd. Coffee Roasters for Office Coffee, Vending, Foodservice and Specialty

Sam Neil: A Portrait in Excellence

The Heritage Coffee Company, Ltd.
Coffee Roasters for Office Coffee, Vending, Foodservice and Specialty