Unified Grocers' Teaches Kids About Grocery Biz

Regional wholesaler Unified Grocers is providing 57 high school students an opportunity to learn how the supermarket industry works through the company's sixteenth annual Summer Youth Employment Program.

"Our Summer Youth Employment Program has continued to flourish over the years because of the valuable learning experience it provides to everyone involved,” said Al Plamann, CEO, Unified Grocers. In addition to the students learning, our company's employees and management greatly benefit from the interaction and fresh ideas that these bright and talented students bring to our organization."

The students, 32 from the Los Angeles metropolitan area, seven from Northern California (Livermore and Stockton area), nine from Portland, Ore. and nine from Seattle, Wash., are either attending or are recent graduates of local high schools. They were selected for the program after completing an extensive application and interview process.

Unified's Summer Youth Employment Program is designed to give the students an understanding of the grocery industry, teach them how corporations function, and develop job skills while working in various departments throughout the company. During the seven-week program (June 27 through Aug. 12), the students' activities include hands-on instructional presentations, visits to retail grocery stores, and tours of food manufacturing facilities operating in their local communities.

Unified's Summer Youth Employment Program students also have an opportunity to win scholarships to help further their education. The scholarship winners are announced at graduation ceremonies held in each region at the conclusion of the program.

Unified Grocers is a retailer-owned wholesale grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the western United States.