ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
American Frozen Food Institute, McLean, Va.
Kelly Pike Poulsen joined as director of government affairs. Poulsen previously served as legislative assistant to U.S. Reps. Denny Rehberg (R-Mt.) and Mark Green (R-Wisc.). She also worked for the National Association of Home Builders as a manager of legislative affairs. Rishi Banerjee joined as manager of regulatory and technical affairs. He previously worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Environmental Microbial Food Safety Lab. Kristen Holmes was promoted to director of conferences. Holmes joined AFFI in November 2009, and has been serving as AFFI manager of conferences. Patrick Kendall was promoted to director of member services. Kendall joined AFFI in August 2010, and has been working as the manager of member services.
PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:
Schwan’s Consumer Brands, Inc., Minneapolis
Dave Susla joined as senior vice president of customer sales, responsible for enhancing customer relationships and empowering the company’s field sales team to grow category sales within the pizza, dessert and meal brands. Before joining Schwan’s, Susla led the branded and private label business for mass and drug channels for Sun Products. Meanwhile, Diane Harper was named vice president, consumer insights and marketing integration, responsible for unifying the company’s consumer and shopper insights, category management, shopper marketing, integrated marketing and analytics functions. Most recently, Harper was group vice president, consumer insights and strategy for SuperValu, where she built consumer insights capabilities, contribution and business impact.
Stater Bros. Markets, San Bernardino, Calif.
Peter Van Helden was appointed president and COO, succeeding Jim Lee, who is retiring as of June 1. Van Helden is a 36-year veteran of the supermarket Industry, most recently as executive vice president retail operations for Supervalu.
Müller Dairy, UK
Bill Mathieson, former European vice president of sales and customer development for Coca-Cola Enterprises to joined as commercial director. Mathieson also worked for almost a decade at Nestlé in senior sales and marketing roles across the group, including the chilled dairy business.
Land O’Lakes, Inc., Saint Paul, Minn.
Autumn Veazey was named new director of government relations, replacing government relations director Steve Kirkava, who is retiring. Veazy will be responsible for leading company-wide government relations strategies and identifying issues that affect the cooperatives' members and its businesses. Daryn McBeth will also join the company as director of state affairs and industry relations, responsible for developing strategy for state-level government relations.
SoupMan, Inc., New York
Lloyd Sugarman was appointed chief executive officer, bringing a wealth of retail merchandising, restaurant operations and franchising experience. Sugarman intends to leverage his 20 years of restaurant industry experience to expand the company's franchise model, Al's Famous New York Delicatessen & Restaurant, which features the Original SoupMan soups, along with a full authentic New York delicatessen breakfast and lunch menu. Sugarman was one of the first to sign on when the 25-year-old Johnny Rockets brand started franchising in 1986. Today, he operates 17 Johnny Rockets locations throughout seven states.
The Hershey Co., Hershey, Pa.
Humberto Alfonso will become president, international, responsible for driving business growth for all Hershey businesses outside the United States and Canada. David Tacka will become senior vice president and CFO. His extensive financial experience will benefit Hershey as it maintains its disciplined approach to global expansion. Michele Buck, currently chief growth officer, will become president, North America, responsible for helping accelerate Hershey’s growth in the United States and Canada. E. Daniel Vucovich will become senior vice president and chief commercial officer, taking over for D. Michael Wege who will become senior vice president and chief growth and marketing officer, responsible for leading Hershey’s strategic planning, research and development, innovation and global Hershey experience. Additionally, Waheed Zaman will join as senior vice president, chief administrative officer, responsible for optimizing Hershey’s information technology and global shared services functions as the company expands internationally.
StarKist Co., a Pittsburgh-based subsidiary of Dongwon Industries
Sam Hwi Lee was named president and CEO. Lee, a member of the board of directors since 2008, became the interim president on Nov. 1, 2012, following the resignation of In-Soo Cho. Lee has held leadership positions at Dole Food Co., Nestlé USA and Nestlé Korea.
SUPPLIERS:
Accellos, Colorado Springs, Colo.
David Dick was named director of Asia Pacific channel sales. Dick brings more than 12 years’ experience in sales, marketing, product management, business development and product services management for supply chain software technologies.
Yusen Logistics, Secaucus, N.J.
Brian Paolillo was named regional sales director, responsible for leading the Eastern region transportation sales organization. Paolillo is currently a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, and has served in various leadership positions, with deployments during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He brings a background in domestic and international logistics.
Ball Corp., Broomfield, Colo.
John Hayes, the company's president and CEO, was elected chairman of the board, taking over for R. David Hoover, who has been chairman since 2002 but will remain on the board as a director. The board also elected Michael Feldser, Gerrit Heske and Robert Strain as new corporate officers, and appointed Theodore Solso as the corporation's lead independent director. Erik van der Kaay will retire from the board.
Commercial Warehousing, Inc., Winter Haven, Fla.
Sarah Latimer was named director of administration. She brings more than 20 years of supply chain experience, most recently in the third-party warehousing and logistics industry. She has both broad and deep experience in process improvement, system integration, strategic planning, facility start-ups and customer relations.
