ASSOCIATIONS:

American Association of Meat Processors, St. Paul, Minn.
Marty Manion will serve as the executive director, succeeding Dr. Jay Wenther, who served in that capacity for the past decade and is now director of meat technology for Handtmann, Inc. Manion brings 20 years of experience in association management, having served as executive director for Association Independent Management and director of information technology and board services for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. In his new capacity, Manion will manage staff, budget, convention, member services, technology implementation, communications, strategic planning and overall operations. Christopher Young  joined the organization as outreach specialist, responsible for food safety and inspection matters and representing AAMP before federal, state and local agencies. Young will also act as the association’s liaison to USDA,  FDA and state meat inspection programs, and will handle legislative and regulatory issues on worker safety, quality control, environmental and business management as well as production concerns for the membership.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

Pinnacle Foods Inc., Parsippany, N.J.
Mary Beth DeNooyer was appointed executive vice president and chief human resources officer, replacing John Butler, who is retiring after five years of service with the company. DeNooyer comes from Hillshire Brands, where she served in senior human resources roles. Mark Schiller was promoted to executive vice president and president of the Birds Eye Frozen Division, replacing Sally Genster Robling, who is leaving the company after a transition period to pursue new opportunities. Schiller joined Pinnacle in 2010 from PepsiCo, where he held a number of executive management positions, including senior vice president of Frito-Lay New Ventures and president of Quaker Foods. In the interim, Bob Gamgort will oversee the Duncan Hines team, where Schiller was executive vice president and president.

The Kroger Co., Louisville, Ky.
John Hackett, president of the mid-South division, announced his retirement. Hackett began his career with Kroger in 1963 as a store clerk in London, Ohio, working his way through college at The Ohio State University. Following graduation, he entered the Kroger management training program in 1968, which led to a variety of marketing and operations roles in the Columbus and Indianapolis divisions. In 1984, he was promoted to director of merchandising for the Louisville division. In 1990, he was promoted to division president, where he oversaw the merger of the Louisville and Nashville divisions to create the mid-South division. Under his watch, he pioneered self-checkout, opened the company's first Kroger fuel station and the first Little Clinic, and also led an associate safety initiative that reduced accidents by 70%. Meanwhile, Quintin Frey announced his retirement following 22 years as president of Turkey Hill Dairy. Frey began his career with Kroger at Turkey Hill Dairy in 1980 as a management trainee. He served in a variety of leadership roles before being promoted to serve as president in 1991.

California Dairies Inc., Visalia, Calif.
John Azevedo, former first vice chairman, was elected chairman of the board for the 2013-2014 term, succeeding Brian Pacheco, whose term as chairman concluded. Pacheco will continue to serve on the board of directors and will remain on the executive committee as a member-at-large. Also elected were John Bidart to first vice chairman, and John Moons to second vice chairman. Executive committee members, John Dores and Gary Bos, were re-elected to secretary and member-at-large, respectively. Board member Jamie Bledsoe will join the executive committee as treasurer.

Safeway Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.
Barry Libenson joined the company as senior vice president and CIO, succeeding David Ching, who retired from the role earlier this year after 19 years with the company. Libenson will oversee Safeway's extensive information technology business functions. He will assume his responsibilities on July 1.

SUPPLIERS:

Eco-Safe Systems USA, Inc., Los Angeles
Larry LaVerne was named president, and Edward Nixon accepted the position of chairman of the board.

Americold, Atlanta
Jed Milstein was appointed to executive vice president and chief human resources officer. Milstein joins Americold after serving as executive vice president of human resources for TransCentra. His industry experience spans a number of sectors, including real estate asset management, pharmaceutical, hospitality, banking and manufacturing. And, Jeff Hogarth was named senior vice president Asia Pacific, responsible for the continued operational success of Americold Logistics Ltd., an Americold subsidiary, and controlling 27 facilities and 81.6 million cubic feet across China, Australia and New Zealand.

TricorBraun, St. Louis
Mark O’Bryan joined as executive vice president of operations, responsible for leading the company’s supply chain and operations in North America’s rigid packaging and packaging components. Before joining TricorBraun, O’Bryan was chief information officer and senior vice president for strategic initiatives with Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.

Lyco Manufacturing, Inc., Columbus, Wis.
Kevin Hansen was appointed product line sales manager, liquid/solid separation, responsible for leading product development, sales for the company’s rotary drum screens, water reuse and micro filter product lines, targeting the poultry and meat markets and applications.

Stellar, Jacksonville, Fla.
Don Stroud was named senior refrigeration engineer. With 35 years of experience in the food industry, Stroud has expertise in building maintenance, renovation, process equipment installation and utilities design. Donald Bivens was appointed mechanical integrity technician. With more than 34 years of experience in piping and HVAC design and documentation, Bivens has expertise in commercial, industrial and marine systems. Michael Wolf was named senior project manager. Wolf has more than two decades of experience in mechanical and refrigeration systems, which he applies to the coordination of all corporate refrigeration contracting issues, from budget control and scheduling to reviewing proposals. Carol Williams was hired as project manager, responsible for helping clients comply with OSHA’s process safety management standards. She also conducts risk management audits and leads process hazard analysis revalidations. Joe Melvin was named refrigeration engineer, responsible for the design of refrigeration systems for new projects, as well as renovations of existing systems. And, Juan Fonseca was brought on as assistant project manager, leveraging his experience in production supervision, logistics and health and safety management to assist with overall project development, including management of financials, labor, safety and customer service.

Harpak-ULMA Packaging, Taunton, Mass.
Jan Erik Kuhlmann joined as president. Most recently, Kuhlmann served as president of Multivac USA for seven years, and has spent the last 20-plus years in the packaging industry leading several major equipment suppliers.

Cashco Inc., Ellsworth, Kans.
Kelsea Herzog was added to the company’s accounting department. Herzog worked for Manpower Inc., as well as an accounting firm in Wichita, Kans., while spending a year of college study in Thailand.