PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Driscoll’s, Watsonville, Calif.
J. Miles Reiter reassumed the position of chief executive officer, taking over for Kevin Murphy, who is leaving this position by the end of the year. Murphy was named CEO in 2015 after serving as president and COO. Reiter, a fourth generation grower and the grandson of one of Driscoll’s founders, will continue to serve as chairman, a role he has held for more than 30 years.

FrieslandCampina N.V., The Netherlands
Dan Lynch, former owner and CEO of Jana Foods, was named vice president imports and senior commercial advisor, following FrieslandCampina’s acquisition of Jana Foods.

JBS S.A., Brazil
Gilberto Tomazoni was elected global chief executive officer, taking over for founder José Batista Sobrinho, who was elected chairman of the board in 2016. Tomazoni has been an executive at JBS since 2013, and maintains more than 35 years’ experience in senior positions in the food industry. For the past year, he served as chief operating officer, during which time he was directly involved in
JBS’s global business strategy.

Stavis Seafoods, Boston, Mass.
Mohamed Fakira joined as vice president of operations, charged with optimizing and maximizing productivity and efficiencies at all Stavis facilities while creating a strategic organizational plan for the company’s new state-of-the-art facility to be developed on the Boston Waterfront. Fakira is HACCP and SQF Seafood Certified and a USDA and FDA liaison for all aspects of manufacturing, including product labeling, regulatory compliance and sanitation. He maintains more than 20 years of strategic and progressive plant management experience. Previously, he served as plant manager for BONAMAR Corp., where he oversaw the Florida facility for Slade Gorton. He also served as a plant manager as Ian’s Natural Foods. And, Allison Roderick was named director of quality, responsible for ensuring the overall quality, safety and consistency of the company’s seafood offerings while implementing and auditing processes and traceability controls at each location. Roderick maintains more than 18 years of FSQA experience in seafood. Previously, she worked as director of microbiology and quality assurance at Monogram Foods LLC, and has held numerous management positions in the quality department at Gorton’s Inc. Her most recent position at Gorton’s was quality assurance manager of microbiology and food safety. 

Duncan Family Farms (DFF), Buckeye, Ariz.
Tom Stills was promoted to director of post-harvest operations and logistics. Stills maintains more than 30 years of produce industry experience, and was originally hired as post-harvest and logistics manager, responsible for completing the final steps in the value chain for customers. Lalo Orozco was promoted to senior district director. Orozco began working at DFF as a general laborer at the age of 16, and subsequently held several positions, including tractor operator, irrigation crew leader, irrigation supervisor, farm manager and district manager for operations in Arizona, California and New York. Sean Duncan was promoted to senior director of supply chain. Duncan previously served as supply chain supervisor and supply chain manager. Jesus Rodriquez was promoted to harvest director. Previously, Rodriquez was a harvest crew leader, harvest supervisor, planting supervisor, harvest senior supervisor and harvest manager. Jeremy Vanderzyl was promoted to food safety director. A food safety expert and public health scientist, Vanderzyl previously served as food safety crew lead, specialist and manager. Juan Calderon was promoted to director of farming operations. Calderon joined DFF to manage harvesting operations and day-to-day sales, and later served as farm manager at the company’s Cuyama, Calif., and Nipomo, Calif., farms.

Golbon, Boise, Idaho
Pamala Padilla was promoted to vice president of procurement. Padilla maintains over 25 years’ experience in the foodservice distribution industry, and previously served as director of procurement for Golbon. Her experience spans from local level procurement and marketing to corporate category management, supplier negotiations and product branding. She will continue to drive key purchasing initiatives that include brand development, committed volume programs, RFP negotiations and other earned income opportunities.

Conagra Brands, Inc., Chicago
Melissa Lora was elected to the board of directors, effective Jan. 4, 2019. Over a 31-year career at Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of YUM! Brands Inc., Lora held a variety of leadership positions, most recently serving as president of Taco Bell's international business from 2014 until her retirement earlier this year. Previously, Lora served as global chief financial and development officer for Taco Bell for more than a dozen years. Lora has also served for over 14 years as a member of the board of directors of KB Home. She currently serves as KB Home's lead independent director, and is a member of the board of directors of MGIC Investment Corp.

FOODSERVICE:
Boston Pizza International Inc. (BPI), Canada
Wes Bews will step down as chief financial officer, effective Dec. 31, to pursue other interests. He will also step down as a director and the CFO of Boston Pizza GP Inc., the managing general partner of Boston Pizza Royalties Ltd. Partnership. Bews joined T & M Management Services Ltd., a predecessor of BPI, in 2008, and has been in his current position since 2010. Until a successor is hired, Robert Kirincic, vice president, finance of Treliving Management Services Ltd. (an affiliate of BPI), will be appointed on an interim basis as a director and vice [resident, finance of Boston Pizza GP Inc., overseeing the financial management, reporting and investor relations functions of the fund.  

SUPPLIERS:
Detectamet Ltd., UK
Hellen Tordoff was appointed group marketing manager. Tordoff maintains business-to-business marketing experience.

Master-Bilt, New Albany, Miss.
Frank Fuller was named vice president of sales and customer care, effective Dec. 3, tasked with developing and executing a commercial strategy to achieve sales growth and expand new business opportunities. Fuller has been in the food equipment industry for over 20 years, working with Electro Freeze, Oliver Packaging & Equipment Co. and Hobart. 

Mickey Truck Bodies, High Point, N.C.
Martin Skurka joined as director of engineering. Most recently, Skurka was plant manager/site lead for Mesker Door, where he was responsible for all 200 employees and operations, including engineering, manufacturing, inside sales, order entry, supply chain, warehouse, shipping, quality, warranty and EHS. Before that, Martin was director of engineering for Trinity Trailer Manufacturing. From 2008-2015, Skurka was director of engineering and quality for Oshkosh Specialty Vehicles, a division of Pierce Manufacturing and Oshkosh Corp. He also served as vice president of engineering and materials management for Road Rescue, Inc., a division of Spartan Motors, and vice president of engineering for PL Custom Emergency Vehicles. Dean Weldy joined the newly created position of director of van body products, charged with supporting all van operations, including customer and vendor relations and engineering and manufacturing custom products. Previously, Weldy spent 30 years with Supreme Corp., first as national fleet engineer and then becoming engineering manager for the fleet group and truck group. He most recently served as director of engineering, national fleets, responsible for design, engineering and business office manager for the company’s fleet engineering group. Meanwhile, Steven Proctor was named director of human resources. Most recently, Proctor served as an executive consultant, specializing in business processes and procedures, technology solutions, staffing plans and operational objectives for a large physician group. Prior to that, he was vice president, elective benefits technology for Aon Risk Management, and has held high-level human resources positions with Empowered Benefits, LLC and Lowe’s Cos., Inc. Dean Sink, currently chairman, president and CEO of Mickey Truck Bodies and Mickey Ventures & Holdings, will become executive chairman of both companies, while Matt Sink will become executive vice president of both companies. All appointments are effective Jan. 1, 2019.

TricorBraun, St. Louis, Mo.
Declan McCarthy was named chief financial officer, effective immediately, charged with overseeing all aspects of the company’s financial functions. He’s served as chief financial officer of PLZ Aeroscience since 2016. He began his 30-year finance career at PepsiCo and held finance leadership roles at several distribution companies, including MSC Industrial, Barnes, Phillips Pet Food and TruckPro.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Long Beach, Calif.
Eamonn Killeen was promoted to director of real estate, effective Dec. 8, responsible for generating revenue through leases of Port of Long Beach property and facilities and implementing environmental policies. Killeen has been with the Port of Long Beach since 2002, starting as a leasing officer, then becoming senior leasing officer in 2009 and assistant director of real estate in 2014. He has been the acting director of real estate since June, following the retirement of the previous director. During his time at the Port of Long Beach, Killeen has secured lease agreements with several port tenants and coordinated the land acquisition for projects, including the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement and the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility. Prior to joining the port, Killeen held various roles as a property manager for several privately owned companies that operate retail, office and industrial buildings in Southern California.

Dachser, Atlanta
Vincent Touya was named managing director of the company’s U.S. regional office, effective Feb. 1, 2019, succeeding Frank Guenzerodt, who has been with Dachser for 14 years. Guido Gries, managing director of Dachser’s air and sea logistics Americas business unit, will head the company in the interim. Touya has been with Dachser for over 30 years, previously serving as head of sales for Dachser France’s overland transport organization.

MonarchFx, a business unit of Tompkins International, Raleigh, N.C.
Scott Lenhoff was tapped as West coast regional director, tasked with building, creating and instituting state-of-the-art facilities. He specializes in retail/wholesale, specialty store and e-commerce fulfillment operations, allocations, fulfilment, pick-and-pack processing, value-added services, IT functionality and more. Lenhoff’s past responsibilities have included managing multi-state facilities covering 2 million square feet of automated environments that supported $500-$750 million in revenue. Before joining MonarchFx, Lenhoff worked as director of logistics at Kittrich Corp., was director of operations at Union Supply and served as regional director of operations at Rampage.

Johnson Controls International plc, Ireland
Pierre Cohade was appointed to serve as a director. Cohade served as chief executive officer of Triangle Tyre from 2015 to May 2016. Previously, Cohade served as senior advisor at China Vest Group, and president of Asia Pacific Tire, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Cohade currently serves as non-executive director on the boards of Deutsche Bank China, Acorn International and CEAT India. He is also the chairman of IMA in China. Furthermore, current director and AIG president and CEO Brian Duperreault announced his intent to retire as a director at the end of the year.

LTI, Inc., Jonesboro, Ga.
Ted Arnold was appointed to the newly created position of director of customer support, tasked with providing oversight to the daily operations relating to drafting, project management, logistics and design needs. Arnold has been with LTI for 34 years, beginning his career on the press brake and shear. From 1986-2003, he worked in the electrical and refrigeration departments, and from 2003-2017, served as shipping and electrical supervisor. In 2017, he was promoted to operations manager, where he oversaw the drafting and engineering department and assisted with customer service and project scheduling.

Alto-Shaam, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Tami Olson and Kyle Rinker were named directors of national accounts on the retail team, responsible for strategic development and tactical execution of regional/national chain and multi-unit account growth within the retail and c-store market segment. They will work alongside regional sales management teams and representative agencies to develop and support national account functions. They will also collaborate with factory marketing, culinary and engineering resources to help develop new products and applications based upon market demand. Olson has been with the company since 2002, having previously served as national account manager. Rinker previously worked as Western regional business development manager for Rotisol, where he was responsible for overseeing all U.S. dealers and representatives, as well as generating leads and sales.

Forager, LLC, Portland, Maine
Supermarket guru Phil Lempert and retail strategist Neil Stern joined the advisory board. Lempert is an expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape. Known as The Supermarket Guru, Lempert is an author and speaker who alerts customers and business leaders to impending corporate and consumer trends. Stern is senior partner at McMillanDoolittle, where he specializes in strategic planning and development of new retail concepts and developing strategies and concepts for a diverse variety of clients across the retail industry.

Eriez, Erie, Pa.
Jaisen Kohmuench was promoted to the newly created position of senior director of Asia-Pacific operations and strategy, tasked with operational and strategic leadership for all Eriez Asia-Pacific subsidiaries, which consists of Australia, China and Japan. Kohmuench has been with Eriez for nearly two decades, most recently serving for three years as managing director of Eriez-Australia. During his career, Kohmuench has been the recipient of numerous awards, written scores of technical papers and made dozens of professional presentations at various domestic and international conferences. He recently co-chaired Eriez’ first Asian-Pacific Agents Conference in Tianjin, China.

The Middleby Corp., Elgin, Ill.
Group president John Perruccio will oversee the Middleby steam group, following the acquisition of Crown Food Service Equipment, in addition to continuing responsibilities for the Southbend and Star brands. Perruccio will lead a unified and focused strategy to bring this complement of brands and product offerings to the marketplace.

Northrop Grumman Corp., Falls Church, Va.
Lucy Ryan was elected corporate vice president, communications, effective Jan. 1, 2019, responsible for the corporation's worldwide communications strategy and execution, including media relations, employee communications, advertising, digital communications, executive communications and branding/corporate image. Ryan joined Northrop Grumman in September as vice president, enterprise communications. She had previously been the director of communications for General Dynamics, where she was responsible for all facets of the company’s communications efforts. Prior to that, Ryan held numerous communications leadership roles at the company. Before joining General Dynamics, she worked for communications and advertising agencies in the Washington, D.C., area.

Port of Oakland, Oakland, Calif.
Rebecca Haggerty was named chief audit officer, effective January 2019, succeeding Katherine Buckley, acting chief audit officer, who will return to her role as port audit manager. Currently, Haggerty serves as internal audit manager for Santa Clara County, tasked with directing operational and financial audits for all port offices. Haggerty joined Santa Clara County in 1997, holding various accounting and auditing roles. She’s also worked for Palo Alto, Calif., and San Jose, Calif, and spent 6 years as an auditor and accountant at Deloitte and Perisho, Tombor, Loomis and Ramirez.

IN MEMORIUM: RYAN ZIEGELMANN, EVOLUTION FRESH

Ryan Ziegelmann, president of Evolution Fresh, a division of Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., passed away Nov. 8 following a long battle with cancer.

Ziegelmann has led the Evolution Fresh business for the past 2.5 years, and has contributed so much during his 8 years with Starbucks.