New York City Metropolitan Area
Results-driven, strategic specialty foods CEO & business leader with over 3+ decades of hands-on experience launching, growing & implementing US company operations & national sales & marketing brand campaigns for domestic & imported, specialty food & beverage & refrigerated grocery products. Proven track record as CEO of building, leading and motivating adaptable, multi-disciplinary cross-functional teams to expand profitable business opportunities through product/brand extensions as well as strategic acquisitions into key expanding markets that enhance revenue, margin growth & bottom-line profitability. Specialize & thrive in environments where vision & thought leadership are required to develop & execute well-integrated, flexible & growth-fueled product market penetration strategies & distribution through identification & cultivation of external stakeholder relationships with supermarkets, mass & direct-buying retailers and wholesale food distributors. As CEO of Wewalka Trading Company from 2014 to 2019 I've effectively built & launched Wewalka’s U.S. company operations, having cultivated critical Retail distribution partnerships for product placement in +8,500 supermarkets & achieved 8 figure revenue within a 3-year period. Wewalka is a privately owned, family-run leading manufacturer of Refrigerated Dough Products based in Sollenau, Austria. Previously spent 24 years with World Finer Foods (WFF), a leading U.S. Specialty Food Marketing Company and distributor of more than 1000 owned and third-party premium food, beverage and personal care products and the largest importer of specialty, health and organic foods in the U.S. Served 14 years as CEO/President, growing the company fivefold during my career at WFF, through organic growth propelled by new customer penetration, in addition to 6 strategic acquisitions and a steadfast focus on financial performance.
CEO of innovative importing company designed to focus and grow client brands. Built dynamic sales, distribution and operations team focused on results. Secured existing client brands operating in the Specialty, Health and Organic retail food business achieving substantial growth outpacing brand history. Our company is well established with sales well into 8 figures and poised for future growth.
Consulting with Domestic and International Food Companies to build their Brands sales in the US market. Leveraging my CEO, Sales and Marketing experience to achieve client brands objectives and success
As CEO, strategically headed and drove the end-to-end build out and launch of Wewalka’s US start-up operations, effectively developing a national sales strategy and cultivating strategic supermarket distribution partnerships resulting in 8-figure U.S. division sales generation within 3-year period. Lead day-to-day management of U.S. Division’s operations & P&L activity including forecasting, finance and comprehensive budget, shipment and consumption analysis as well as creation of all sales collateral and presentations for sales meetings and marketing events inclusive of consumer engagements, experiential marketing events, industry trade shows, symposiums, and networking events. Also serving as Managing Director of the Parent Company; Wewalka is a privately owned, family-run leading manufacturer of Refrigerated Dough Products based in Sollenau, Austria, with 800 employees providing products to 30+ countries across Europe & Asia, and launched US operations focused on supermarket distribution in US in 2014.
As National Sales Director, identified and cultivated key distributor relationships with retailers, achieving product placement in over 8,500 supermarket retail locations in the U.S. including: Walmart, Kroger, Safeway/Albertson’s, Ahold/Delhaize, Meijer and Jewel. Hired, trained and managed high-performing cross-functional team of 15 employees including Sales, operations, finance, customer service and logistics and drove key operational efficiencies and improvements in production, warehousing & logistics. Successfully designed, directed & implemented Wewalka’s national “go-to-market” brand & product launch strategy, inclusive of all promotional initiatives, consumer and trade promotions & pricing structure optimization to grow product offering profitability, increase brand awareness and deepen market penetration for 5 products in portfolio including: Classic Pizza, Flat Bread, Pie Crust, Puff Pastry and Bistro Pizza.
As CEO, developed & advanced best-in-class sales, marketing, purchasing and warehousing operations to effectively build and launch premium domestic and international 1000+ brand portfolio and drive doubling of revenue, including EBITDA growth of 230% in 10-year period. Headed full-cycle acquisition process for purchases of 6 strategic, accretive health, organic and small start-up enterprises resulting in expansion of company from 1 to 3 divisions and rapid market & new customer penetration. During my tenure, I built and deepened long-standing distributor and retail relationships in all channels, including traditional supermarkets, mass merchandisers, wholesale, eCommerce & specialty retail partners (drug, club & convenience) to grow brand awareness & sales through marketing at all points of distribution. I also spearheaded the creation & delivery of comprehensive “go-to-market” and market penetration/growth strategies promoting imported brand’s U.S. product launches, events, sales training, advertising creative briefs, media planning, public relations and promotions.
As COO, drove value-creating, profitable sales growth of 20% and EBITDA doubling in 2-year period through leadership & management of sales, marketing, purchasing and warehousing operations. Spearheaded the design and delivery of company’s first Strategic Planning Process which resulted in gaining new customers outside WFF’s historical profile from 10% to 30% of total sales.
As Divisional President, spearheaded the launch of the American Marketing Team Division, generating 8-figure revenue in sales which represented 63% of company-wide revenue by 1999 and built and strengthened import client base of exclusive brands, including 5 market leaders, including Bonne Maman Preserves, McCann’s Oatmeal, and Monari Balsamic Vinegar. Successfully cultivated 11 client partners in 2 years to launch & grow brand awareness & sales through marketing at all points of distribution.