Navy Exchanges Gerry Fantano Announces Retirement In February

Gerry Fontano

Fantano got his start with the Navy when he began a co-op with the Navy Resale and Services Support Office's (NAVRESSO) Food Department during the summer of 1976. Two years later, he was hired as a food services manager in training; and, in April 1979, he reported for duty as food sales manager for the Navy on the island of Guam. He went on to hold the same position in Brunswick, ME; New London, CT; and Orlando, FL.

In 1986, Fantano was promoted to services operations manager at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. He became the vending laundry/dry cleaning specialist at NAVRESSO in 1988, and was promoted to NEXCOM's vending/laundry branch manager in 1993.

In the early 1990s, Fantano worked with Starbucks/Seattle's Best to provide Seattle's Best Coffee in NEX mini marts. He coordinated the development of a branded whole-bean coffee machine still used by the vending and coffee service industry.

In 1990, he organized a number of vending manufacturer programs to establish system-wide pricing, as well as manufacturer rebates. These programs provided direct-ordering capabilities, reducing product cost and enabling lower vend prices.

At present, NEX vending manufacturer partners provide central annual rebates exceeding $150,000 per year. Fantano also launched a program for vending manufacturers to donate to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. This program has generated more than $500,000 to date for NMCRS.

In 1992, Fantano implemented the vending industry's first multi-branch healthy snack program, Healthier Alternative, which provided specific guidance and criteria to identify healthier products in vending machines. He was recognized by the vending industry as an innovator who took full advantage of the advanced capabilities of modern machines to provide full food and beverage service in areas on naval bases in which manual facilities were impractical, thus improving efficiency while strengthening round-the-clock readiness.

Fantano also developed the detailed specification for a network-based vending management system. The Rutherford and Associates program (now MEI Easitrax) was implemented by Navy Vending personnel, producing a six-month ROI payback. The savings resulted from timely machine reconciliation, reduction in administrative time and labor, timely and accurate inventory controls and the data required for smarter product procurement. NEXCOM is still the only worldwide organization communicating with its vending machines by use of the vending industry data transfer standard, or DEX.

In 2012, NEXCOM began implementing credit-card readers on its directly operated vending machines. Sales increases have exceeded 30% and ROI was as high as 107%, in some cases. Today, NEXCOM is moving forward with the installation of micromarkets to support sailors in isolated workplaces.