ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS/UNIVERSITIES:
Grocery Manufacturers Association, Arlington, Va.
Bryan Zumwalt, executive vice president of public affairs; Dr. Betsy Booren, senior vice president of regulatory and technical affairs; Stacy Papadopoulos, general counsel and senior vice president of operations and special initiatives; Brandon Partridge, senior vice president of member engagement; Mike Gruber, vice president of federal affairs; Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain and logistics; Katie McBreen, vice president of communications and research; Bill Pappas, vice president of accounting and finance; and Meghan Stasz, vice president of packaging and sustainability make up the new leadership team to drive forward the new agenda following the rebrand to the Consumer Brands Association, effective January 2020.

Women In Trucking Association (WIT), Plover, Wis.
Deborah Ruane Sparks will take on a newly created role as vice president, effective January 2020, in anticipation of president and CEO Ellen Voie’s retirement in the coming years. WIT experienced dramatic growth under Voie’s guidance, and now has more than 5,000 individual and corporate members in 10 countries. Sparks has been involved in the transportation industry for nearly two decades. She currently serves as director of transportation and community outreach at Wreaths Across America. Previously, she served as vice president, business development at the Truckload Carriers Association and as director of marketing for American Trucking Associations.

Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), Washington, D.C.
Yin Rani was selected chief executive officer. Rani maintains nearly 25 years of integrated marketing experience across consumer packaged goods companies and marketing agencies. She most recently served as vice president, chief customer experience officer for the Campbell Soup Co., where she was instrumental in modernizing the company’s marketing across content, media, design, MarTech and digital, as well as improving the business trajectory for core brands and new launches. Before joining Campbell Soup, Rani was president, North America of Universal McCann, where she managed more than $7 billion in billings. She also worked as a consultant and interim chief marketing officer.

 

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS/MARKET RESEARCH:
Gordon Food Service, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Brooke Elliott, Tommy Gordon and Peter McLaughlin were elected to the board of directors. Elliott is an EY distinguished professor and head, department of accountancy, University of Illinois, where she heads the University of Illinois’ accountancy department that offers undergraduate, masters and doctoral education programs in accounting. Gordon is director of partnerships and pipeline for Relish Works, where he brings together external partners with internal innovation strategies to develop products, services and tools customers. And, McLaughlin is managing director, Anne of Green Gables Chocolates. Prior to joining Green Gables Chocolates, he spent nearly 20 years with Loblaw Cos. Ltd., where his roles included president, emerging business division and senior vice president of several businesses, including national wholesale and deli, home meal replacement and bakery.

NatureFresh Farms, Canada
Cornelius Neufeld was appointed operations manager for all NatureFresh Farms facilities located in both Canada and the United States. Cornelius maintains 20 years’ experience in the greenhouse farming industry. He began his journey with NatureFresh Farms in 2011 as a labor manager. In 2015, he became operations manager for the Delta, Ohio, facility. Meanwhile, Frank Neufeld was named sales manager. Frank also maintains 20 years’ experience in the greenhouse farming industry. He started working at NatureFresh in 2011 as a warehouse manager. Then, in 2016, Frank assumed the operations manager role for the company’s greenhouse facilities based in Leamington, Ontario, Canada.

Food 4 Less/Foods Co., a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., Los Angeles
Nancy Lebold was hired as vice president of merchandising, effective Sept. 23, succeeding Mike Servold, who was promoted to vice president of operations of Kroger’s Atlanta division. Lebold maintains 26 years of experience in the grocery retail industry for WinCo Foods, where she held a variety of store, district and corporate roles. In 2007, Lebold was named vice president of general merchandise for WinCo Foods before being promoted to vice president of procurement. In 2015, she was named senior vice president of operations, where she led operational and performance improvements in new markets.

Dean Foods Co., Dallas, Texas
Jody Macedonio stepped down as executive vice president, CFO, effective Sept. 24. As a result, Gary Rahlfs was appointed interim CFO, effective immediately. Rahlfs has served as the company’s senior vice president, finance and Strategy since May. From March 2018 to May, Rahlfs served as chief financial officer and vice chancellor for finance at the University of North Texas. From 1994 until February 2017, Rahlfs was employed at PepsiCo, Inc., where he held several positions, including vice president finance, global groups for PepsiCo, chief financial officer – PepsiCo Foods Canada, and vice president sales finance – Frito-Lay US-South division. In addition, Russell Coleman stepped down as executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and government affairs, effective Sept. 24.

Square One Farms, LLC, Miramar, Fla.
Oswaldo Silva joined as vice president, chief procurement officer, charged with overseeing product sourcing around the globe to extend seasonality and offer quality products year-round. Silva maintains more than 25 years of extensive international business experience and leadership with insights into trade and global markets.

Seven Seas, Springfield, Ill.
Brent Young joined as manager of sales in the Visalia, Calif., office. Young maintained a 20-year career in the grower/shipper segment, implementing commodity and logistics solutions for domestic and international accounts.

Greenleaf Foods, SPC, Chicago
Veteran foodservice executive Ken Komejan joined as vice president of foodservice, tasked with leading the foodservice business for the Lightlife and Field Roast Grain Meat Co. brands across North America, to accelerate growth and market leadership in the plant-based protein market. Komejan maintains more than 25 years of experience in general and sales management. He previously served as general manager of foodservice for Mars, where he oversaw all facets of the company’s foodservice business. Previously, he was a national foodservice sales director at Mars, and spent time within the sales organization at Diamond Crystal Brands.

BlueNalu, San Diego, Calif.
Greg Murphy joined as director of corporate development and strategic partnerships. Murphy has promoted sustainable ocean solutions for almost a decade with experience in policy at the local, state and national level. He’s a former executive director of The Maritime Alliance, where he helped manage the cluster, promoted international trade and exports, launched the BlueTech Incubator and fostered an ecosystem of collaboration internationally. Most recently, Murphy consulted organizations through his firm, Blue Economy Strategies, and advised elected officials on ocean policy, sustainability and industry. And, Gerard Viverito, a certified executive chef, restaurant owner and seafood instructor at The Culinary Institute of America, was named corporate chef and culinary advisor. Viverito maintains more than 20 years of experience as an executive chef, instructor, restaurant owner and hospitality educator. As an associate professor at The Culinary Institute of America since 2004, Viverito instructs the next generation of forward-thinking chefs and focuses on sustainable seafood curriculum.

 Beyond Meat, Inc., El Segundo, Calif.
Sanjay Shah was named chief operating officer, effective Sept. 18, assuming responsibility for global operations and production. Shah maintains more than 25 years of experience in operations, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain management. Before joining Beyond Meat, Shah served as senior vice president of energy operations at Tesla, where he was responsible for the worldwide energy business and led the North America sales/services/delivery for automotive. From January 2011 to May 2018, Shah held a variety of leadership roles at Amazon, including as vice president of North American fulfillment centers, where he was instrumental in launching numerous new fulfillment centers during his tenure, implementing robotics technology and achieving structural cost improvements through process and tools automation. Prior to Amazon, Shah served as managing director, Southeast Asia of MFG.com from September 2009 to January 2011, where he launched Southeast Asia operations and led revenue and customer growth. From December 2000 to August 2009, he was an executive director at Dell, managing sales and fulfillment operations, manufacturing, distribution and global growth of customer service.

 

FOODSERVICE:
Jimmy John’s Sandwiches, Champaign, Ill.  
James North will serve as president of the Jimmy John’s brand, following the acquisition by Inspire Brands. Meanwhile, Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of Jimmy John’s, will step down.

 

SUPPLIERS:
West Essex Graphics (WEG), Fairfield, N.J.
Allison Hansen was named controller, responsible for managing the company’s accounting and human resource departments and overseeing all financial reporting. Before joining WEG, Hansen served as controller for Kore Insurance Holdings, and prior to that, she spent nearly a decade as controller for Defined Health (now known as Cello Health BioConsulting), and another decade as controller for Capri Corporate Management.

Pilot Freight Services, Glen Mills, Pa.
Brian Flower was promoted to vice president of operations, responsible for setting all operational policies and key performance indicators as well as defining standardized station procedures. Additionally, he will establish pricing protocols, manage vendor relationships and oversee TSA compliance. Flower has been with Pilot for the past decade, most recently as the Northeast regional vice president, where he managed, supported and mentored district managers within the territory. Previously, Flower was district manager of Pilot’s Newark, N.J., (EWR) station, which became the company’s first corporate certified cargo screening facility (CCSF) under his leadership. Flower also helped model the program, as the company expanded to other stations.

Crate.io, San Francisco
Syed Hoda was appointed chief commercial officer and president North America. Hoda maintains more than two decades of go-to-market experience scaling advanced technologies at both startups and industry giants. He most recently served as chief marketing officer of Sight Machine, and previously served as chief marketing officer of ParStream, which was acquired by Cisco Systems Inc. Prior to ParStream, Hoda served as a senior executive in a variety of management positions at Cisco, including general manager for Cisco’s Emerging Solutions Group, where he led the startup and scaling of new, disruptive software businesses. He was also instrumental in launching Cisco’s Globalization Center in Bangalore, India.

Roll-Kraft, Mentor, Ohio
Sean Larkin joined the corporate sales team. Larkin previously served as branch manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where his efforts increased corporate business relations by 15% in a single year.

FoodLogiQ, Durham, S.C.
Tony Barbone was named chief revenue officer to craft FoodLogiQ’s vision for pioneering new markets and opportunities. Barbone previously served as senior vice president and general manager of platform sales for SumTotal Systems, where he led a 160-person global sales organization. He previously served as national vice president of sales at SAP. Barbone maintains over two decades of experience in roles spanning sales, business development, account management, pre-sales and consulting in SaaS solutions and engaging with enterprise and mid-market accounts. Julie McGill was promoted to vice president of supply chain strategy and insights, where she will advise on industry, customer and product insights to improve market adoption, customer satisfaction and value generation. McGill previously spent over 15 years with GS1 US, where she led the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative, working with manufacturers, distributors, operators and supply chain partners to increase efficiencies and build a foundation for traceability and supply chain visibility through the use of GS1 standards.

Stora Enso, Finland
Annica Bresky was appointed president and CEO, effective Dec. 1, taking over for current CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström.

Stellar, Jacksonville, Fla.
Mike Santarone was promoted to become the company’s first chief executive officer. Santarone joined Stellar as a field engineer in 1986, overseeing the Epping Forest mansion renovation and residential development project. He was made division vice president of the food and beverage group in 2000, was promoted to executive vice president in 2005 and became Stellar’s third president in 2012. Meanwhile, Brian Kappele was named president and COO. Kappele began his career at the company as an intern in the food and beverage division in the summer of 1997. In 1998, he accepted a full-time position as an on-site assistant project manager, taking on various roles and responsibilities throughout the first 10 years of his career. Kappele was promoted to division vice president in 2011, and became executive vice president in 2017. Ron Foster Jr. will continue in his role as chairman.

Alto-Shaam, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Dan Emanuelson was named national accounts and customer service specialist, where he will support the national accounts project manager and executive sales team as a customer advocate from order placement to delivery. Emanuelson began his career as a fabricator at Alto-Shaam nearly 7 years ago. Since then, he has served as service dispatcher and warranty claims administrator.

Norfolk Southern Corp., Norfolk, Va.
Claude Mongeau was elected an independent director of the Compensation Committee and the Finance and Risk Management Committee board of directors, effective Sept. 23. Mongeau maintains extensive freight transportation industry experience. He previously was president and CEO of Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) from 2010-2016, where he executed a customer-centric version of precision scheduled railroading. Under his leadership, CN enhanced operating efficiencies while improving service through engagement, communication and collaboration with customers. During a 22-year career at CN, Mongeau also served as executive vice president and CFO; vice president strategic and financial planning; and assistant vice president corporate development. Prior to joining CN, Mongeau was a partner with Groupe Secor. He began his career in Paris as a consultant for Bain & Co.

Altair, Troy, Mich.
Andrea Siudara joined as chief information officer, leading the global information technology team, and overseeing Altair's IT systems, enterprise business systems and IT business strategy globally. Siudara maintains nearly 20 years of experience in leading large-scale, global IT organizations for major companies. Most recently, she was global director, sales and marketing IT for Ford Motor Co., and has held previous executive roles at Delphi, Dell and General Motors. Siudara succeeds Martin Nichols, who was named chief purchasing officer, be responsible for global purchasing, budget tracking and facilities management.

Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich.
Frederick Sohm will be stepping down from his chief financial officer position for non-business-related reasons. Sohm has served as chief financial officer since September 2015.  

Mickey Truck Bodies, High Point, N.C.
Mike Tucker stepped down from his position as president and CEO while undergoing treatment for an illness. Tucker joined the company in January 2018 as executive vice president strategic growth and business development, and was named president and CEO in January, marking the first time that a non-Mickey family member was responsible for day-to-day operations. Prior to Mickey, he was president and CEO of VT Hackney, Inc., and a 26-year veteran of that company. Matt Sink, currently executive vice president of both Mickey Truck Bodies and Mickey Ventures & Holdings (MV&H), was named chief executive officer. Sink joined Mickey in 2007, and served as manufacturing manager before being promoted to vice president of manufacturing in 2015. Tom Arland, currently vice president corporate sales, fleet services and parts, was named president. Arland joined Mickey in 2012 as vice president sales for beverage and engineered vehicles following a 25-year career with Ryder Systems, Inc., where he guided a multi-million-dollar business unit. Since joining Mickey, he’s been responsible for all corporate sales, fleet services and parts. Martin Skurka was named vice president of operations. He was most recently director of engineering, responsible for engineering, manufacturing and purchasing. Skurka joined Mickey in 2018.