“Reach for the brass ring.” The phrase may be somewhat dated - considering it originated from a carousel ride popular in the early 1900s. Yet it’s still frequently used to describe someone striving toward a reward.
Visit ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston in Pasco, Wash., and you’ll find the maxim also embodied there. Although, this is a different type of ring altogether.
ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston is a company for all seasons. In late October, for example, visitors at the company’s Pasco, Wash., french fry plant can see a receiving room full of potatoes - the last fall crop from fields throughout the Columbia Basin. Later, it will be time for Pasco and other potato operations to draw winter stocks from raw material storage houses.
Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland, promoted Luis Cantarell to executive vice president and head of Zone Americas, effective in early September. Cantarell ran Nestlé’s global Nutrition business before he was promoted to head of the company's European operations. He succeeds Paul Polman, who left to pursue opportunities at Unilever PLC.
Nestle Prepared Foods’ plant in Jonesboro, Ark., is one busy place. With nearly 600 employees working up to seven days a week, this 325,000-square-foot operation produces as many as 50 different frozen entrees.
They say it pays to think big. And considering that the world’s foodservice market is valued at about $366 billion, Nestlé SA is indeed thinking big. In fact, establishing a singular global foodservice business, Nestlé Professional, was one of the food industry powerhouse’s four strategic goals last year.
As vice president and general manager of Buitoni North America, it’s not unusual that Terri Tinella would visit the unit’s refrigerated pasta plant in Danville, Va. Nor is it out of the ordinary that plant officials would prepare a little “show-and-tell” presentation for Tinella’s visits.
It’s the story of a re-energized Denver team whose members share a new vision for success. Yet we’re not talking about baseball’s Colorado Rockies. Rather, it’s Nestlé Prepared Foods’ Denver group, the business behind Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets products.
In the 1930s, one Hollywood hit with wide appeal starring William Powell and Myrna Loy ironically was named “The Thin Man.” Now, care to guess what nutritional food product has the widest appeal to U.S. consumers? A brand with “lean” in its name.
Red means “stop” when it comes to the rules of the road. But what if you’re talking about the retail freezercase? There, Nestlé Prepared Foods’ red-boxed Stouffer’s entrée brand has been a business on the go.
What does leadership look like in the competitive world of frozen foods? Sometimes the answer comes from unlikely sources - such as hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, someone also known for his work in icy arenas.