Page 10 - February2019

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TRANSITION
RALEY’S
Keith Knopf
ANNOUNCEMENT
ANNOUNCEMENT
Raley’s, West Sacramento, CA, has promoted Keith Knopf to president and chief executive of cer. Knopf has served in an executive position since joining the organization in 2015, beginning as chief operating of cer and expanding his role to president more than a year ago. Michael Teel, owner of Raley’s, will continue as chairman of the board.
Knopf has been instrumental in evolving the Raley’s brand and strengthening its position in the market- place. Before coming to Raley’s, Knopf was senior vice president of retail channels and omni channel store integration at Kohl’s. He also was a senior- level executive for Victoria’s Secret and Macy’s.
TRANSITION
AEROFARMS
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD’S MASSIVE WEGMANS TO OPEN THIS FALL
A Wegmans supermarket that has been in the works for years on the site of former of cers’ housing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is nally set to debut this fall. The Rochester, NY-based company plans to ll 500 jobs, including 150 full-time positions. The hiring process is beginning this month. The building will replace dilapidated homes along historic Admiral’s Row, where naval of cers once lived during the Civil War era; those buildings were demolished in 2016. The store will span 74,000 square feet, across the ground and mezzanine oors with light manufacturing operating on the tops oors.
ANNOUNCEMENT
TRADER JOE’S REPEATS AS TOP U.S.
GROCERY RETAILER IN DUNNHUMBY
RETAILER PREFERENCE INDEX
Trader Joe’s again was crowned
top grocery retailer in the
second-annual Dunnhumby
Retailer Preference Index (RPI),
a comprehensive, nationwide
study that examines the U.S.
grocery market. The grocery
retailers with the highest
overall consumer preference index scores behind Trader Joe’s are: 2. Costco Wholesale, 3. Amazon, 4. H-E-B, 5. Wegmans Food Markets, 6. Market Basket, 7. Sam’s Club, 8. Sprouts Farmers Markets, 9. WinCo Foods, 10. Walmart, 11. Aldi, 12. Peapod and 13. The Fresh Market. The RPI study by the Chicago-based rm surveyed 7,000 U.S. households to determine which of the top 56 largest grocery retailers have the strongest combination of nancial performance and consumer emotional sentiment. The ranking evaluated retailers on price, quality, digital, opera- tions, convenience, discounts/rewards and speed.
Roger Post
Vertical farming pioneer AeroFarms, headquartered in Newark NJ, named Roger Post as its chief operating of cer. Post will oversee all of the company’s operations, including food safety and quality assurance, farm construction and R&D. Post has more than 28 years of manufac- turing and supply chain operations experience with leading food
ANNOUNCEMENT
FRIEDA’S INTRODUCES LUNAR
NEW YEAR TO THE PRODUCE AISLE
Frieda’s in Los Alamitos,
CA, is celebrating the
traditional Chinese New
Year in style, recognizing
it as “Lunar New Year,” to
be more inclusive of all Asian cultures that celebrate the holiday. The Year of the Pig runs through Feb. 19 and offers retailers huge opportunities to promote and sell Asian food — such as Shanghai bok choy, Napa cabbage, ginger and lemongrass — which is the fastest-growing cuisine in the United States.
“A stronger Asian produce set does double duty,
as it appeals to Asian shoppers and non-Asian consumers who want to experiment with Asian cuisine,” says Alex Berkley, sales manager at Frieda’s. In a recent report, Nielsen studies indicate that Asian-Americans are the fastest growing ethnic population with signi cant buying power and that they purchase 72 percent more fresh vegetables and 29 percent more fresh fruit per household than the total U.S. population.
ANNOUNCEMENT
STEMILT HOSTS CHEF STOWELL FOR PINATA-INSPIRED EVENT
Stemilt Growers delighted
team members with a
meet-and-greet event
with its spokeschef, Ethan
Stowell, at its Wenatchee,
WA, headquarters, part of
a partnership between the
chef and Stemilt to deepen
the farm-to-table connec-
tion. Chef Stowell prepared
a winter salad starring the
company’s signature apple
variety, Pinata, and also toured Stemilt’s facilities. Chef Stowell is self-taught with more than 20 years of experience and 14 restaurants across Seattle.
companies, including Danone and Kraft Nabisco. Most recently, he was senior vice president of manufacturing operations and ful llment at Danone Foods North America.
TRANSITION
KRASDALE FOODS
Steve Silver
White Plains, NY-based Krasdale Foods, which provides essential services such as grocery distribu- tion, merchandising and marketing support to supermarket operators, has promoted Steve Silver to president. Silver, who has been with Krasdale for 37 years, also will continue to serve as chief oper- ating of cer. “[Steve] is deeply
involved in all aspects of the business and has earned the respect of our employees, customers and partners; I know he is eager to continue to drive future growth for the company,” says Charles Krasne, chief executive and chairman of the board. Krasdale services more than 300 independent supermarkets, with many of them operating under the C-Town and Bravo banners in the Northeast and Florida.
TRANSITION
ALLEN LUND COMPANY
ANNOUNCEMENT
USDA APPOINTS THREE
TO MUSHROOM COUNCIL
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the appointment of three members to serve on the Mushroom Council. The appointees will serve three-
year terms from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2021. They include: Sonya Beltran, Kennett Square, PA (Region 2); Meghan Klotzbach, West Grove, PA (Region 2); and Emily Bettencourt, Morgan Hill, CA (Region
3). Beltran is an accounts manager with Masda Mushroom LLC. Klotzbach is a regulatory manager for C.P. Yeatman & Sons, Inc. Bettencourt is food safety and employee safety coordinator at Del Fresh Produce. The nine-member Council is comprised of eight domestic growers and one importer.
Todd Piccola
The Allen Lund Company, Flintridge, CA, promoted Todd Piccola to manager of its Roch- ester of ce and Greg Babiarz to assistant manager of its Charlotte, NC, of ce. Piccola, who started in Rochester before shifting to roles in Los Angeles and Boston, had been working as a transportation broker. Babiarz has been with
Chef Ethan Stowell
Allen Lund for 12 years and has more than 14 years of industry experience.
Produce & Floral Watch are regular features of Produce Business. Please send information on new products, personnel changes, industry, corporate and personal milestones and available literature, along with a high resolution image to: Managing Editor, Produce Business, P.O. Box 810425, Boca Raton, FL 33481-0425 or email us at info@producebusiness.com
10 / FEBRUARY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS