ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

Refrigerated Foods Association, Marietta, Ga.
Judy Stokes Gervais, founding executive director, announced her retirement, effective May 30. Stokes Gervais has been with the association since its inception in 1980. She is also owner and president of Organization Management, the RFA's management company.

 

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

The Hillshire Brands Co., Chicago
David Stahl will become chief information officer, effective May 28, responsible for overseeing all IT strategy and planning activities and providing executive leadership and direction for IT. Most recently, Stahl was vice president, information technology at Tellabs, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s global IT operations.

Fresherized Foods, Fort Worth, Texas
Jim Blair and Kirk Turner were named retail sales managers, responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with retail outlets to strengthen the Wholly Guacamole and Wholly Salsa’s brand market position. This includes sharing new product updates with their region and identifying new distribution outlets.

The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Scott Henderson was named vice president of pension investment and strategy, responsible for overseeing nearly $12 billion of assets. Henderson joined Kroger in 1981 as manager of financial reporting, and has held various positions of responsibility, including vice president and controller for the company's Dillon division and vice president of planning. Meanwhile, Todd Foley was named vice president and treasurer, replacing Henderson. Foley began his career with Kroger in 2001 as an audit manager in the internal audit department, after working for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Hickory Farms, Toledo, Ohio
Michael Holton was promoted to chief marketing officer, responsible for overseeing all elements of the marketing mix and all aspects of the consumer brand experience. Joe Loch was promoted to vice president of franchise and retail sales. Loch was hired in 2009 as the vice president of supply chain, where he successfully led the re-engineering of all processes to deliver fresher, higher quality products. Ty Hanline was promoted to vice president of supply chain. During his tenure with the logistics team, he has successfully transformed the company's distribution and storage network to achieve 99% on-time deliveries while significantly lowering cost. And, Joe Herman joined as interim chief financial officer. Herman recently joined Hickory Farms from a client service firm specializing in financial, operational and organizational development.

Kettle Cuisine, Chelsea, Mass.
Joe Rainert will take on the role of chief executive officer, taking over for Jerry Shafir, who founded the company and who will transition to chairman of the board of directors. Rainert first joined Kettle Cuisine in January 2013 as executive vice president of sales, marketing and innovation.

SSP America, Lansdowne, Va.
Patrick Gleason was appointed vice president of business development, responsible for developing new business opportunities and increasing the company’s presence in the North American market. Gleason brings more than 30 years of industry experience, serving both inside the airport in commercial development, management and planning, as well as outside the airport, providing industry analysis and consultation services to multiple gateways and concessionaires.

 

FOODSERVICE:

Domino's Pizza, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Robert VanRenterghem will join the company as vice president, product management in the supply chain services division, effective May 28. VanRenterghem comes from Gordon Food Service (GFS), where he held several senior manager positions in procurement and product management as well as merchandising and product marketing, supporting seven regional divisions and 13 U.S. distribution centers.

Tim Hortons Inc., Canada
Marc Caira was appointed new president and CEO, effective July, replacing Paul House, who will become non-executive chairman of the board of directors. Caira was most recently global CEO of Nestlé Professional, where he led a global organization of 10,000 employees that operates in approximately 100 countries.

 

SUPPLIERS:

Stellar, Jacksonville, Fla.
Dan Olmoguez was named senior mechanical designer, responsible for specifying equipment for clients. Wallace Avery was appointed senior architect, responsible for architectural design, space planning and specifications. Charu Bhat was named senior design project manager. Bhat has a decade of experience in process mechanical design and project management. Randy Raybon was named mechanical designer, responsible for overseeing mechanical, plumbing and utilities document preparation and maintenance. Robert White was named architectural designer, responsible for overseeing drafting, project coordination and quality assurance for clients such as Sara Lee, Sysco, Kraft and Food Lion. Jonathan Burdon was appointed plumbing designer, responsible for the design of drainage systems for sanitary waste, as well as the selection of fixtures. Michael Mendoza was hired as design project manager, responsible for coordinating between clients, engineers and other parties involved in completing a project, as well as driving permitting initiatives. Paul Vranesh was named electrical engineer, responsible for developing electrical documentation, performing electrical inspections and overseeing the work of electrical designers. Lastly, Kyle Lawrence was named process engineer, responsible for designing process lines for Stellar facilities.

U.S. Growers Cold Storage, Inc., Vernon, Calif.
Ralph Newton was promoted to general manager, while Peter Corselli was promoted vice president.

EOS Climate, San Francisco
Keilly Witman was named vice president of marketing, responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of Refrigerant Revolution, a multi-sector Stewardship incentivizing complete life-cycle management for refrigerants.

Dyadic International, Inc., Jupiter, Fla.
Danai Brooks will join as executive vice president and COO, effective June 1. Brooks will play a key role in driving the company’s business development and licensing efforts, as well as corporate strategic planning and operational improvements across the globe.