ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST), London
Michael Bell was elected new vice president. Bell maintains over 34 years’ experience in the food industry, and has been executive director of Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) for over 22 years. He previously worked in Northern Ireland and Malta for 12 years, working closely with major retailers. He also was a member of the board of Ormeau Bakery, is a fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD), a member of the Northern Ireland Food and Feed Advisory panel for the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland and a board member of Agri-Quest, the Food Innovation Competence Centre.
PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Applegate Farms, LLC, Bridgewater, N.J.
The standalone subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corp. appointed John Ghingo as president, while Gina Asoudegan, senior director of mission, will be elevated to vice president of mission and innovation strategy, where she will oversee product innovations designed to create a consciously scaled supply chain. Most recently, Ghingo was the president of plant-based foods and beverages at The WhiteWave Co., where he led the Silk and So-Delicious brands. Prior to that, he spent 16 years at Mondelez (formerly Nabisco and Kraft), where he worked in various marketing leadership positions across several brands and divisions, including Belvita, Chips Ahoy, Oreo and Ritz. Asoudegan has been with Applegate since 2006, when she was named director of communications, working closely with NGOs to raise awareness of food system issues, including antibiotic resistance and GMOs. Asoudegan is on the leadership team of the Non-GMO Supply Working Group (an initiative of the Center for Sustainable Solutions), an advisory board member at the Sustainable Food Lab, the advisory council for The National Young Farmers Coalition and was instrumental in securing Applegate as a founding partner for the Savory Institute's Land to Market Program.
J.R. Simplot Co., Boise, Idaho
Bill Whitacre, chief executive officer, announced plans to retire, effective Aug. 31, after an 18-year career with J.R. Simplot, the past nine as CEO, where he expanded the company’s international footprint, enhanced its position with communities, industries, customers and employees, strengthened the company’s growing global presence and oversaw an increase in revenues from approximately $4.5 billion to $6 billion. Whitacre joined the company in March 2000 as president of Simplot’s turf and horticulture business. In 2002, he was appointed president of the Simplot AgriBusiness Group, and was named CEO in 2009. He maintains more than 40 years of experience in the agriculture industry.
Indigo Ag, Inc., Boston, Mass.
Frank Crespo was named chief supply chain officer, responsible for leading the company’s efforts to transform the agriculture value chain. Crespo maintains over 20 years of procurement experience, having most recently served as chief procurement officer and vice president of the global supply network division at Caterpillar, responsible for leading the enterprise's integrated procurement and logistics, ensuring an efficient and responsive global supply network for products, parts and services. Before Caterpillar, Crespo was vice president and chief procurement officer at Honeywell. Under Crespo's leadership, the company chartered a stronger strategic course, developing its supplier base, deepening supplier alliance relationships and assembling a world-class team within the organization. Crespo also held leadership positions at Electronic Data Systems, Praxair, Texas Instruments and Hewlett-Packard. Crespo is a retired Reserve Naval Officer, and earned the rank of Captain after serving for more than 24 years.
Big Y Foods, Inc., Springfield, Mass.
John Schnepp III was appointed vice president of marketing, where he will continue to oversee all marketing and advertising by coordinating print, electronic, digital and social platforms as well as all internal and external communications across all of Big Y’s brands, including Big Y World Class Markets, Fresh Acres, Table & Vine and Big Y Express Gas and Convenience stores. In addition, he is newly responsible for the database marketing efforts, which include data mining tactics, metrics, customer loyalty and personalized communications. Schnepp’s career with Big Y spans over 40 years. He started as a part-time service clerk in the former Breckwood Blvd. Springfield, Mass., store in 1975. From there, he moved on to various in-store positions until his promotion to assistant grocery manager in 1981, and on to grocery manager later that same year. He served as a store manager from 1987-1992, when he was tapped to be the chain’s bakery sales manager, a position he held for the next five years. In 1997, he was appointed director of advertising.
Sysco Corp., Houston, Texas
John Hinshaw was elected to join the board of directors. Hinshaw served as executive vice president, technology and operations and chief customer officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprises from November 2015 until his retirement in October 2016. Prior to that, Hinshaw was executive vice president, technology and operations of Hewlett Packard from November 2011 to November 2015. Hinshaw served as chief information officer of The Boeing Co. from 2007-2010, and vice president and general manager from 2010-2011. Hinshaw also spent 14 years at Verizon Communications, where he served as senior vice president and chief information officer of Verizon Wireless, among several senior roles, overseeing the company’s IT function. Hinshaw serves as a director of The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., DocuSign, Inc. and NAF.
Frieda’s Specialty Produce, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Cindy Karas Sherman was named new director of marketing and innovation. Sherman maintains 16 years of experience in marketing strategy and marketing management and innovation, having worked for PepsiCo, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., and most recently, Starbucks, where she launched Starbucks Plus K-Cup Coffee and managed the Teavana Hot Tea business within Starbucks retail stores. Sherman also holds deep innovation experience, having built new product pipelines across the coffee, confections, snacks and juice categories.
Hostess Brands, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.
Consumer packaged goods executive Andrew Callahan was named president and CEO, effective May 7, replacing C. Dean Metropoulos, the company’s executive chairman, who has been serving in the expanded role of interim president and CEO since March 31. Metropoulos will remain executive chairman of the board of directors. Callahan maintains more than 23 years of executive leadership experience serving in key consumer packaged goods industry roles. He most recently served as president of retail packaged brands for Tyson Foods, managing its retail consumer brands, including Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Sara Lee, Aidells and Ball Park, as well as president of North American foodservice and international. Additionally, he was responsible for Tyson Pet Products, Inc. Callahan left Tyson Foods in August 2017, after the integration of AdvancePierre Foods. Prior to that, Callahan served as president of retail for Hillshire Brands, where he completed an initial public offering before being acquired by Tyson Foods. He also served as chief customer officer for Sara Lee Corp. North America, president of Sara Lee foodservice division and general manager of Jimmy Dean. Prior to Sara Lee, he spent 13 years at Kraft Foods in roles of increasing responsibility in marketing, sales and general management. Prior to beginning his corporate career, Callahan spent seven years in the U.S. Navy as a flight officer.
SUPPLIERS:
Northrop Grumman Corp., Falls Church, Va.
Gabrielle Batkin was appointed vice president of legislative affairs, effective immediately, tasked with implementing and overseeing all Northrop Grumman interactions with the U.S. Congress and related organizations, including the development of proactive activities to promote Northrop Grumman's legislative agenda and build legislative and policy coalitions. Previously, Batkin served in senior staff positions on several Senate committees. Most recently, she served as the minority staff director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Prior to that, Batkin served as the majority and minority staff director on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Batkin also served as the deputy staff director of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she served for 13 years advising Senators and their staffs on funding and policy issues related to the federal budget.
JAXPORT, Jacksonville, Fla.
Justin Damiano assumed the role of director, government affairs, responsible for all government affairs, grant application and environmental advocacy efforts and continuing to strengthen relationships with Florida’s public sector leaders. Damiano most recently served as manager, government affairs and community investment for Comcast NBCUniversal, where he managed regulatory compliance, interactions with key stakeholders, including federal and state leaders, as well as the organization’s corporate giving campaign. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles with the City of Jacksonville, Jacksonville’s public electric authority and the Republican Party of Florida.
RK Logistics Group, Fremont, Calif.
Cindy Traver was promoted to vice president of operations, where she will oversee a network of 14 locations in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, representing nearly 1 million square feet of warehousing with over 700 employees. Traver maintains over 20 years of experience in the logistics and transportation industry. She has been RK’s senior director of operations since 2015. Previous to that, she was director of global logistics for Lam Research, responsible for strategic design, leadership and day-to-day management of supply chain operations. Prior to Lam Research, Traver was the director of transportation for Safeway Inc. Her background and skills encompass managing global logistics across all modes of transportation, lean manufacturing and supply chain practices, six sigma and financial accounting.
Peak-Ryzex, Inc., Columbia, Md.
Juliann Larimer will join as new president and CEO, effective April 9, succeeding Ross Young, who stepped down from his role as president and CEO. Most recently, Larimer was vice president and general manager, sales, North America, at Zebra Technologies. Prior to that position, Larimer served as vice president of global channels and sales operations at Motorola Solutions, as well as chief marketing officer and senior vice president at Zebra Technologies. Larimer maintains 20 years’ experience in sales, channels, marketing, strategy and operations with technology companies. Before joining Zebra, she held various sales and marketing positions with IBM Corp., Accenture and Bridgestone Corp. Young was named chairman of the board, and will serve as president and CEO of Movilitas Consulting, a portfolio company of Keystone Capital.
Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich.
Thomas Clevinger was appointed to the board of directors. Clevinger maintains extensive expertise in the global commercial vehicle business through his 30-year career with Navistar, Inc. and PACCAR, Inc. Most recently, Clevinger served as senior vice president/managing director – global at Navistar, where he managed all lines of business outside of the United States and Canada. At PACCAR, Clevinger was responsible for the parts operations in North America and Europe. Clevinger currently serves on the board of management of DAF Trucks N.V., and as an executive board member of the International Service Logistics Association. Additionally, incumbent directors Richard Current and James Orchard are retiring and stepping down from the board of directors, effective May 23.
Johnson Controls International, plc, Ireland
Antonella Franzen was appointed vice president and chief investor relations and communications officer, effective immediately, in addition to her current responsibilities leading investor relations. Franzen will assume responsibility leading internal and external communications, and oversee the company's communications leadership team, which includes internal representatives from communications, marketing, human resources and government affairs. Franzen has been serving as vice president, investor relations, since the merger of Johnson Controls and Tyco. Before that, she served as vice president of investor relations for Tyco International from 2007-2016, as well as vice president of financial planning and analysis in 2016. Prior to moving to investor relations, she was the director of external reporting for Tyco. Earlier, Franzen spent seven years in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, providing assurance advisory services to various large multi-national public companies in the industrial sector.
Dynamic Conveyor Corp., Norton Shores, Mich.
Andrew Hartline was hired as sales manager, focusing on leading the sales team in providing conveyor solutions based on the unique needs of customers in the plastic parts manufacturing, food processing and packaging industries. Hartline brings several years of sales leadership experience in material handling systems for the plastics, chemical and food industries.
IN MEMORIUM: D. ALLEN LUND, ALLEN LUND CO.
D. Allen Lund, founder of the Allen Lund Co., La Cañada Flintridge, Calif., passed away.
Lund founded his company in 1976, and has since grown the company to sustain a nationwide presence in the transportation, logistics and software industries. In 2017, the company became a 500M force, which was one of Allen's goals.
The funeral mass will take place April 14 at 5 p.m., at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles.
IN MEMORIUM: EVERT MOOIJER, KLAAS PUUL
Evert Mooijer, founder of Klaas Puul, a European seafood processor, has passed away.
Mooijer began helping out in his father's business in the mid-1960s. Since then, the company grew from a small business run from a garage in Volendam, Amsterdam, into a seafood empire with locations in seven countries and 3,500 employees.
In 1989, Mooijer built a new peeling plant in Tangier, Morocco, after home peeling of shrimps became prohibited by law.
“It was a huge investment, which was not without risks,” says Sander van den Berg, chief executive officer. “And, there have been more defining moments in which Evert dared to take steps that others didn't. Evert didn't spend much time studying extensive prognoses and cost-benefit analyses. He made them on the back of a beer mat, and after that, he mostly followed his instincts. And, they seldom let them down. He was a unique entrepreneur in many ways, and a remarkable person.”
Five years ago, Mooijer handed over the day-to-day management to H2 Equity Partners, a European investment firm that now owns just over 50% of the shares. He was, however, involved in the company up to the last moment. Only seven months ago, Mooijer laid the first stone of the new main office in Volendam, built a new 5,500-square-meter fresh products plant and expanded its 3,500-square-meter frozen products plant.
