November 16, 2021

Bret Petersen, Martin Bros. Director of Sales, Named Iowa Restaurant Association Purveyor Partner of the Year

Bret Petersen, Director of Sales at Martin Bros. Distributing Co., Inc., was named the 2021 Iowa Restaurant Association Purveyor Partner of the Year. An awards ceremony congratulating Petersen and other industry award winners was held in Des Moines on November 15.

Petersen started his career at Hy-Vee but quickly moved to Farner-Bocken Company, which at the time was family-owned and operated. The job was very much a family affair for Petersen, who spent 21 years on a sales team led by his father. His younger brother and sister also worked there.

After two decades with Farner-Bocken, Petersen made a big move to Martin Bros. While they didn’t relish the idea of competing with him, his family and friends were supportive, and to no one’s surprise, he moved up quickly at Martin Bros. He started as the Des Moines metro Sales Manager and then led a team to open the Kansas City market. He was soon the Director of Sales in the Western region, and today he leads a team of 50+ across 11 states.

Petersen points to the importance of honest and proactive communication in developing great partnerships and teams.

“Early in my career, I received some great advice,” said Petersen, “Learn how to take and give constructive criticism, which can be hard.”

Petersen has put those words to the test sometimes, but he’s also big on relationships, which can help those conversations go a little easier.

“I get attached to people,” said Petersen, “I really want what’s best for them. And I want to be the person they know they can count on.”

Martin Bros. Distributing Co., Inc. is a full-line, family-owned food service distributor serving Iowa and surrounding states with inspirational and innovative solutions. The company offers state-of-the-art distributing, nutritional tools, culinary advising, menu design and much more.

For more information on Martin Bros., visit www.martinbros.com.

STORY SOURCE: Martin Bros., 6623 Chancellor Drive, Cedar Falls, IA 50613

For more Martin Bros. news, check out our complete news release library.