ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), Monticello, Ill.
John Allan, vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards for International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), was appointed to the executive board, where he will represent IDFA, advocating for members’ interests on issues that impact processing, packaging and marketing of Grade “A” milk and milk products.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
ARYZTA, Los Angeles
Juergen Steinemann joined the board as an independent non-executive director, effective Sept. 12. Steinemann brings more than 25 years of senior management experience within the B2B food sector. He served as Barry Callebaut’s chief executive officer from August 2009 to September 2015. Before joining Barry Callebaut, he served as chief operating officer of Nutreco from 2001-2009. Prior to that, he was CEO of Unilever’s former subsidiary Loders Croklaan. Steinemann has also held various senior positions with the former Eridania Beghin-Say Group.

Bongards Creameries, Chanhassen, Minn.
Daryl Larson was appointed president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Larson, currently Bongards’ vice president of natural cheese operations, will assume the role on the retirement of Keith Grove, who has served as president and CEO since 2005. Larson’s extensive background in the dairy industry includes general management roles with Land O’Lakes, Leprino Foods, Dairy Farmers of America and Agropur. Over the past five years, Larson has been instrumental in the design and complete renovation of Bongards’ Perham, Minn., plant and in dramatically increasing the company’s manufacturing capabilities.

Tom Lange Co., Springfield, Ill.
Tony Machi, account manager, announced his retirement, effective Aug. 31, after 28 years of service. Machi began his career at Machi Produce, which was founded by his grandfather. After several years spent on the Pittsburgh, Pa., wholesale market, he joined Tom Lange’s Pittsburgh office in 1989, where he became the top account manager for 15 years. 

Fresh-Link Produce, LLC, Monterey, Calif.
Industry veteran Bob Harper was hired to oversee the rapid growth of the tomato division. Harper maintains more than 20 years in tomato sales.

Terra Exports, Las Vegas
Joe Cardenas joined as U.S. West coast sales director. Cardenas holds 24 years of experience in the industry, including sales, operations, buying, quality control and shipping, and has been involved with produce since the age of 12. Cardenas will also be building and leading Terra Exports’ grape division, and expanding into other categories such as avocados, limes, blueberries, pineapples, mangos and papayas.

JBS USA, Greeley, Colo.
The new advisory board is comprised of four independent leaders, including John Boehner, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Greg Heckman, former president and CEO, The Gavilon Group; Dimitri Panayotopoulos, former vice chairman, Procter & Gamble; and Harvey Pitt, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Coastline Family Farms, Salinas, Calif.
Tami Gutierrez joined in the newly created position of vice president of sales and marketing. Gutierrez started her career in 1989 for SYSCO, working in accounting before moving into a buyer position. She joined Growers Vegetable Express in the fall of 1996, working in sales and marketing, product buyer and production coordination. Most recently, she was vice president of sales for Ippolito International, where she spent 10 years coordinating production planning, harvest forecasting and managing Mexican-grown and cauliflower commodities. Gutierrez also directed the sales team, who serviced a range of key national and regional retail, foodservice and wholesale distributors.

Devault Foods, Devault, Pa.
Herb Beck was named senior executive vice president of business development, effective immediately, responsible for developing regional and national sales channels. Beck maintains experience in the foodservice industry, having most recently led channel development for Advantage Waypoint and Grant Hanson Associates. Throughout his 3-decade career, Beck has held numerous sales leadership positions.

FOODSERVICE:
Yum China Holdings, Inc., China
Jacky Lo was named chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1. Lo has served as the interim CFO and treasurer of Yum China since June 2017. He has also served as vice president, controller and principal accounting officer since March. Previously, Lo served as vice president, finance from October 2016 to March 2017. Lo joined Yum! Restaurants China as vice president, finance in August 2016. Prior to joining YUM, Lo worked for Ernst & Young for 15 years, including most recently as partner and deputy director in the Asia Pacific Capital Markets Center of Ernst & Young's Professional Practice Group, specializing in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, SEC reporting and Sarbanes Oxley compliance requirements.

Real Mex Restaurants, Cypress, Calif.
The owner of Chevys Fresh Mex, El Torito, Acapulco and Pink Taco restaurants appointed Judd Tirnauer as chief financial officer, effective immediately. Tirnauer maintains significant experience in specialty retail, financial planning, debt restructuring and organizational development. He comes from Wet Seal, where he served as executive vice president and CFO. Prior to his time at Wet Seal, Tirnauer spent 15 years at Destination Maternity, where he served as executive vice president and CEO. Throughout his career, Tirnauer has led other operational areas, including real estate, distribution, IT, legal, human resources, procurement and marketing.

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar, Glendale, Calif.
Stephen Bulgarelli was named vice president and chief culinary officer, tasked with leading the culinary team to elevate menu concepts and strengthen the restaurant’s culinary culture. Bulgarelli maintains a rich background in the restaurant industry. Most recently, he spent 7 years with Chili's, the last five as vice president of food and beverage. Prior to his tenure at Chili's, Bulgarelli was the vice president of culinary innovation at O’Charley’s, held two culinary leadership roles with T.G.I. Friday’s and was an executive chef at LSG Sky Chefs.

SUPPLIERS:
VersaCold Logistics Services, Canada
Paul Merrick was named senior vice president and general manager of the CPX business unit, effective Aug. 28. Merrick maintains over 35 years of experience in operations management, supply chain and logistics, human resources, executive leadership, sales and general management. Most recently, he was employed by Purolator Inc., where he held several senior positions, including vice president of field operations, director of operations, general manager for Western Canada and general manager of British Columbia and Northern Alberta.

Ziehl-Abegg, Greensboro, N.C.
Jerrad Hill was named area sales manager for the central region, located in Edmond, Okla. Hill brings over 25 years’ experience in the ventilation and refrigeration industry, and has been involved with the HVAC market from the start of his professional path. He has previously held leadership positions in various business divisions, ranging from technical service to business development.

Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, Kan.
Barry Voorhees was appointed product manager over metal detection, responsible for supporting the company’s sales team, identifying new markets and customers, improving the product and enhancing accompanying service and warranty programs. Voorhees has been in a variety of positions with Bunting for over 20 years. Most recently, he was general manager, where he managed the entire Newton-based operations team, including the inside sales group, design and engineering personnel and all manufacturing.

Standex Refrigerated Solutions Group, Salem, N.H.
Rusty Ekness joined as vice president of product management and marketing, effective Aug. 28, responsible for developing and executing the overall vision, purpose and product management and marketing strategy. He will help build product roadmaps, drive pricing strategies, identify new markets and manage the new product development processes. He will also establish the performance conditions needed to drive a high-performance product management and marketing culture, and collaborate with foodservice equipment group leaders at Master-Bilt and Nor-Lake to assist in driving group level initiatives. Previously, Ekness was president of Co-Operative Plating Co., and before that, he spent the bulk of his career at Emerson Automation Solutions in product management, marketing and global sales leadership roles.

AMETEK Prestolite Power, Troy, Ohio
Jeff Harrison was promoted to business manager, responsible for hiring and training regional sales managers, adding and managing new dealers and developing and implementing marketing strategies.  Harrison joined AMETEK in 2010 as director of sales and marketing, a position in which his sales leadership and expertise resulted in company records for sales and profit increases over four consecutive years. Harrison maintains more than 20 years of sales management experience. His career also includes sales positions with Wiese Planning & Engineering, Heubel Material Handling, Termnet Merchant Services and MasterCard International.

System Concepts, Inc. (SCI), Scottsdale, Ariz.
David Andow was appointed to the newly created position of president. Previously, Andow was chief operating officer for Cold Stone Creamery, and more recently, president of Small Box Energy.

ESE, Inc., Marshfield, Wis.
John Tertin was promoted to director of sales and marketing, responsible for leading the sales, estimation and marketing teams as well as evolving ESE’s customer experience initiative. Tertin had been serving ESE as director of manufacturing information systems since 2012. He joined the company in 2006 as a process controls engineer. Prior to joining ESE, Tertin worked as a controls engineer for California Power Partners.

United States Cold Storage (USCS), a Swire Group company, Voorhees, N.J.
Charles de Zoete was named chief financial officer, effective Aug. 1, succeeding Andrew Murray Clarke, who has been CFO since 2013. De Zoete was most recently financial controller for Swire Pacific Offshore, based in Singapore. De Zoete brings nearly 20 years of financial experience, having begun his career in finance and accounting in the United Kingdom before joining the Swire Group in 2010. Prior to Swire Pacific Offshore, de Zoete worked in the corporate finance department of Swire Pacific Ltd., and as the finance manager of Steamships Shipping. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Clarke will become finance director at The China Navigation Co., another Swire Group company.