ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C.
A. Bailey Wood, Jr. was named to the expanded position of vice president of communications, public relations and marketing. Wood has served as vice president of communications at the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association since 2014, where he led the association's efforts on branding, communications, messaging, media relations, advertising, video production, website, social media and state chapter coordination. Before that, Wood was senior director of communications and legislative affairs for the National Automobile Dealers Association, where he created and implemented the association's advocacy communications strategy. Wood's experience on Capitol Hill includes serving as the communications director for the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Republican Policy Committee under former Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif). Wood also served as press secretary for former Reps. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) and Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio), and worked as a legislative assistant for the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), Providence, R.I.
Sean Griffin will retire from his current role as chief operating officer, effective Oct. 1. Chris Testa, who currently serves as president, Atlantic region, will assume the role of president, UNFI, and oversee the company's broadline natural, organic and specialty distribution business in the United States, Select Nutrition and e-commerce as well enterprise sales and service. In addition, Testa will continue to oversee branding and communications. Eric Dorne will continue to serve as the company's chief administrative officer and chief information officer, and will also assume the role of president of strategic business units, assuming oversight of Albert's Produce, Woodstock Farms, supplier relationship management and operations in Canada, Earth Origins Markets, customer care, risk safety and information technology. Paul Green, who currently serves as president, Pacific region, will assume the role of chief supply chain officer, where he will focus on driving standardized operational excellence across the company. He will also oversee the company's supply chain function, its newly created warehouse automation group and the transportation and real estate operations.
H-E-B, San Antonio, Texas
Jag Bath was appointed to the newly created position of chief digital officer, overseeing all of the company's digital products and services. Bath, a leading entrepreneur and innovator, will continue in his current role as chief executive officer of Favor Delivery, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of H-E-B.
Market Fresh Produce, Nixa, Mo.
Sherri Zintel was named manager of inventory systems at the Tampa, Fla., facility, responsible for monitoring production efficiency and product yields, ensuring that all activity is accurately documented in the system and coordinating with production staff on the daily monitoring of product from production to shipping. Zintel maintains an extensive background in analyzing and managing inventory systems. Previously, she fast-tracked from an office administrator to procurement and inventory analyst, and finally, became the shipping supervisor; all within two years.
GreenSpace Brands Inc., Canada
Keith Jackson, chief financial officer, resigned, effective May 26, to return to the private equity space. As a result, Cindy Leung, vice president of finance, will serve as interim CFO. Leung joined GreenSpace in November 2015, and has been integral to leading the internal finance functions within the company. In fact, she previously acted as interim CFO for GreenSpace during a period in 2017. Prior to joining GreenSpace, Leung served over 10 years in public accounting, assurance and tax.
Conagra Brands, Chicago
Burke Raine was appointed vice president and general manager of snacks and sweet treats, effective April 30. Burke was most recently senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Hostess Brands, where he led growth and innovation initiatives for brands like Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Donettes. Prior to Hostess, Burke served as vice president of Diamond Food’s U.S. snacks group, where he helped turn around the company by fueling growth on a portfolio that included Kettle Brand and Pop Secret. Burke started his CPG snack career at Frito-Lay, where he held a variety of brand management, shopper marketing and innovation roles. He concluded his tenure there as director of marketing for Lay’s potato chips.
Just Desserts, San Francisco
Anthony Zamudio was appointed director of sales. Zamudio maintains over three decades of experience in the bakery industry, working in key sales leadership positions at Treehouse, ConAgra Foods, Bunge and Dawn Foods. Zamudio started his career as a bakery manager for Haggens, and was director of bakery for Brown and Cole.
Albertsons Cos., Boise, Idaho
Gautam Kotwal joined as executive vice president and chief data and analytics officer, responsible for leading the company’s innovation efforts to drive value, create competitive differentiation and design personalized shopper experiences wherever and however they choose to shop. Kotwal has served as vice president of analytics, data platform and data science engineering for Kohl’s Department Stores for the last two years, where he built Kohl’s BigData team to enable an insights-driven organization by democratizing data and science. He joined Kohl’s in 2012, first as director of innovation, before moving to director of innovation and data science. Prior to working at Kohl’s, Kotwal worked at Netflix, where he began as an engineering manager before being promoted to director of engineering, where he was responsible for Netflix Streaming test strategy, vision, test architecture and test automation.
Campbell Soup Co., Camden, N.J.
Denise Morrison, president and CEO, announced her retirement, effective immediately. Keith McLoughlin, a Campbell board member since 2016, was named interim CEO, while Luca Mignini, who was elevated to chief operating officer in April, will focus on the integration of newly acquired Snyder’s-Lance and Pacific Foods businesses while stabilizing the company’s U.S. soup business. McLoughlin was president and CEO of Electrolux AB from 2011 until February 2016. McLoughlin joined Electrolux AB in 2003 as head of major appliances North America and executive vice president of Electrolux AB. Between 2004-2007, he also served as head of major appliances Latin America. From 2009-2011, he served as executive vice president and COO of Electrolux AB, and was appointed president and CEO of Electrolux AB in 2011, a position he held until his retirement in January 2016. Before joining Electrolux AB, McLoughlin spent 22 years in senior leadership roles at E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., where he led several consumer brand businesses, including DuPont Corian, DuPont Stainmaster carpet and DuPont Tyvek.
FOODSERVICE:
QDOBA Mexican Eats, San Diego, Calif.
Keith Guilbault was named chief executive officer, effective immediately, and Susan Daggett was appointed chief financial officer, effective May 23, both following the company’s acquisition by Apollo Global Management, LLC. Guilbault has served as QDOBA’s brand president and COO since 2016 under Jack in the Box’s ownership, where he oversaw approximately 740 restaurants. Prior to leading the QDOBA brand, Guilbault held a series of executive leadership positions at Jack in the Box, including senior vice president and CMO in charge of branding, traditional and digital communications, product development, menu management, social engagement and public relations. Meanwhile, Daggett maintains more than two decades of financial experience in the restaurant industry, most recently at Noodles & Co., where she has served as interim chief financial officer since June 2017 and vice president of finance since August 2016. She also held executive roles at Pinnacle Restaurant Group, Inc., Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc., and Arby’s Inc.
Dunkin' Donuts, Canton, Mass.
Drayton Martin was appointed new vice president, brand stewardship, responsible for leading the development and implementation of Dunkin' Donuts' brand messaging across all channels, including advertising, packaging, in-store and digital while overseeing the company's internal brand marketing team and external creative agency partners. Martin maintains more than two decades of advertising and marketing experience. During the past 14 years, she’s had leadership roles at MullenLowe, where she directed transformative identity and positioning campaigns for several brands such as JetBlue, Century21, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and more. She’s also worked at several top advertising agencies throughout the country.
SUPPLIERS:
Toray Plastics (America), Inc., North Kingstown, R.I.
Mark Turano was named director of sales of the Lumirror polyester film division. Turano joined Toray in 2016 as national sales manager of the Lumirror division. Prior to joining Toray, Turano worked with Danafilms, Consolidated Container Co., Polycel de Mexico and Printpack. In addition, Justin Larson was appointed sales manager of the Lumirror division. Larson most recently served as product manager of the Lumirror division. He joined Toray in 2006, and has also worked as a sales analyst and key accounts manager.
Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich.
Tom Ninneman was promoted to chief operating officer. Ninneman has served as Spartan's president of fleet vehicles and services (FVS) for the past year, and previously served as chief operating officer of Smeal Fire Apparatus Co., which Spartan Motors acquired in 2017. Ninneman maintains over 25 years of business and leadership experience, including 10 years in custom vehicle manufacturing across the fire and emergency response, specialty vehicle and military markets. Additionally, Chad Heminover was named president, FVS. Heminover most recently served as vice president of operations and business development of FVS, and was previously the business unit president for Taylor Corp., where he implemented a number of business turnarounds. Over his career, Heminover managed major supplier and customer relationships, as well as mergers and acquisitions, new product development and the implementation of programs to enhance employee development and retention. Finally, John Slawson, president of Spartan Emergency Response (ER), resigned to pursue other interests. Tom Ninneman, chief operating officer, will serve as interim president of the ER business unit.
Metl-Span, Lewisville, Texas
Chad Draxler was hired as vice president of engineering, replacing Rahim Hakimi, who retired from his role as vice president of engineering after 35 years of service. Draxler maintains more than a decade of experience from his previous employment at Steel King Industries and ADC Custom Products. Craig Storch was hired as director of engineering. Storch brings to the table a deep knowledge of engineering and experience with insulated metals panels, steel buildings, CAD and project management.
Manhattan Associates Inc., Atlanta
Linda Hollembaek was elected to the company’s board of directors. Hollembaek was senior vice president, integration management officer of Lexmark International Inc., where she served nearly two decades optimizing supply chains and bolstering global customer service. She began her career with Eastman Kodak Co., in roles spanning logistics, finance, sales and operations, and later was an operations leader for Danka Services International.
Hanson Logistics, St. Joseph, Mich.
Jim Reits was appointed interim president and CEO, effective May 31, replacing Andy Janson, who resigned from the company after 14 years of service to pursue other interests. Reits currently serves as the company’s president and CFO, and has held various financial roles during his 23-year tenure with Hanson Logistics.
