Cold Foods Industry NewsNational Refrigerated & Frozen Food Association (NFRA)

Kraft Foods Takes on New Vice Chairman

ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association, Harrisburg, Pa.
Natalie Markle was added to the newly created position of member communications coordinator, responsible for marketing member resources and events, developing and maintaining an online and social media presence for members and engaging members in NFRA’s PR and promotion efforts. Prior to NFRA, Markle worked for two engineering firms as a marketing assistant. She was responsible for website updates, proposal submissions, database organization and project leads. Along with her marketing positions, Markle worked as a front-end supervisor at Target, where she enhanced her managerial and customer service skills.

Natural Products Association, Washington, D.C.
Corey Hilmas, MD, Ph.D., was hired as senior vice President of scientific and regulatory affairs, responsible for developing and implementing the association’s current educational and compliance programs, such as cGMP training, Natural Seal, TruLabel and others. Hilmas comes to NPA after serving as chief of the Dietary Supplement Regulation Implementation Branch under the Division of Dietary Supplement Programs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more than two years. During his tenure, Hilmas was a federal expert witness on label claims and dietary ingredient safety. Hilmas also worked as a physiologist and principal investigator for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, investigating the efficacy of galantamine and huperzine.

Food Marketing Institute, Arlington, Va.
Richard (Rick) Stein was named vice president of fresh foods, responsible for developing a portfolio of services and activities to assist members in developing and executing their fresh foods strategies, including everything from meat, poultry, seafood and produce to deli and bakery and fresh-prepared meals and solutions for takeout or in-store dining. Prior to joining FMI, Stein was vice president of retail merchandising and marketing execution for Safeway, where he led marketing activities for the company’s eastern division that spanned 180 locations and 20,000 employees. He began his career at the retail store level, and in his 30-plus year tenure at Safeway, he rose through the ranks serving in both divisional and corporate roles spanning the gamut of retail/store operations, category management, sales and marketing/merchandising.

National Pork Board, Des Moines, Iowa
Dale Norton, a partner of Kendale Farm, a pork producer in Bronson, Mich., was elected president for his second 3-year term. Norton is involved with a cow/calf operation and raises corn, soybeans, hay, green beans, peppers for processing and seed corn on more than 3,500 acres. He served as the Pork Checkoff's representative on the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance and serves on the Swine Health Committee. Serving as vice president is Brad Greenway, a pork producer from Mitchell, S.D. Derrick Sleezer, a pork producer from Cherokee, Iowa, will continue as treasurer.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

Kraft Foods Group, Inc., Northfield, Ill.
George Zoghbi was named to the newly created position of vice chairman, operations, R&D, sales and strategy, responsible for creating innovative new products and managing quality improvements. Zoghbi joined Kraft's former parent company, now known as Mondelez International, in 2007 as vice president and area director of Australia and New Zealand, where he oversaw all aspects of the regional business. Zoghbi has served as leader of Kraft's cheese and dairy business since 2009. Prior to joining Kraft, Zoghbi held a variety of leadership roles at Fonterra. As a result of this appointment, Howard Friedman was named executive vice president and president, cheese and dairy. Most recently, Friedman was president of sales, responsible for Kraft's largest retail customer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In addition, Friedman is a 16-year Kraft veteran, and has held several positions in marketing, where he managed the Philadelphia, Kraft Singles, Jell-O and Kool-Aid brands. He also served as senior vice president of marketing for cheese and dairy before moving into his current sales role.

Inventure Foods, Inc., Phoenix, Ariz.
Consumer packaged goods veteran Dan Hammer was appointed general manager, frozen division, effective May 27. Hammer brings more than 30 years of general management and sales and marketing experience, and has a deep knowledge of the frozen food industry, retail and foodservice distribution, brand positioning and new product innovation. Most recently, Hammer was vice president of marketing at Michael Angelo's Gourmet Foods. From 2008-2011, he was senior vice president of marketing at Schwans Consumer Brands. Prior to that, he worked at Conagra Foods, Unilever, Snyder's of Hanover and Nestlé Foods.

Ready Pac Foods Inc., Irwindale, Calif.
Michael Ervin was hired as plant director of the company’s Irwindale, Calif., facility, responsible for overseeing the operational performance and strategic initiatives and managing site growth by partnering with on-site functional leadership. Working to engage over 1,000 associates, Ervin’s focus will be to maintain seamless operational success within Ready Pac’s manufacturing site and distribution process. Ervin comes from Marietta Corp., where he was general manager, responsible for managing the oversight of the facility and business. Preceding Marietta, he was vice president of operations for Adam Nutrition and maintained director of quality assurance and management roles with the United States Department of Agriculture, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Kraft Foods and Coca-Cola Enterprises.

FOODSERVICE:

The Wendy's Co., Dublin, Ohio
Liliana Esposito was named chief communications officer, succeeding John Barker, who has decided to leave the company after 18 years. Most recently, Esposito worked for Dean Foods as vice president, corporate communications and public affairs, responsible for aligning communications with business needs and successfully executing engagement strategies for key internal and external audiences. She also played a key role in Dean's re-structuring into three distinct businesses, served as president of the company's philanthropic foundation and spearheaded communications on critical topics such as environmental sustainability, animal welfare and nutrition.

J. M. Smucker Co., Orrville, Ohio
John Denman, currently vice president, controller and chief accounting officer, was appointed vice president, human resource operations, effective July 16. Denman has been with the company for more than 30 years in various accounting and finance leadership positions. Meanwhile, Jill Penrose was promoted to vice president, human resources, effective July 1. Penrose has been with the company for 10 years and was formerly the vice president, strategy and organization development.

SUPPLIERS:

GBW Railcar Services, LLC, Lake Oswego, Ore.
Jim Cowan was named chief executive officer of the new joint venture created by The Greenbrier Co., Inc., Lake Oswego, Ore., and Watco Co., LLC. Cowan will continue to serve as senior vice president, operations for Greenbrier and will maintain certain responsibilities unrelated to GBW. Cowan is well known in the railcar industry with years of experience in senior leadership positions and extensive tank car experience. Most recently, he worked for Amsted Rail Group on assignment in Brazil, and served as president and CEO of American Railcar Industries, Inc.

Seaonus, Jacksonville, Fla.
Ronald Calloway was appointed president, effective June 9, filling a senior management role that has been vacant for several months. Calloway joins the organization with more than 35 years of experience in the supply chain industry, working mainly in distribution. In his most recent role, he served as senior vice president of distribution for Flagler Global Logistics. Calloway also possesses a variety of expertise due to his time with Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. as the senior director of logistics and supply chain, where he led and managed distribution centers, transportation, warehouse and fleet operations, manufacturing plants and a variety of personnel.

Bosch Packaging Technology, New Richmond, Wis.
Joachim Dittrich was appointed head of the liquid food business unit based in Germany, succeeding Jürgen Katzenbach, who will become the unit's commercial manager. Dittrich is a qualified automotive mechanic and mechanical engineer, who has been working for Bosch Packaging Technology since June 2011.He has many years of experience in the industry, having previously held a variety of positions as a manager or specialist at international packaging technology companies. He began working for Bosch as head of the Weert site in the Netherlands. Katzenbach will remain head of the Waiblingen site and simultaneously occupy the newly created position of commercial manager of liquid food. Since April 2011, he has been managing the Waiblingen site.