Briefs 2008-05-01

Mike Buzalka

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. has promoted Robert Wright to COO. He had been executive vice president of sales and marketing. The company also announced the sale of its turkey production and distribution center, effectively exiting a business it entered in 2001 with its acquisition of WLR Foods.

Phillips Foods, Inc., has added a new culinary center for product development at its world headquarters in Baltimore.

Sanso Foods has named Andrew Marsano vice president of sales and marketing.

Alto-Shaam owners the Maahs family have made the largest single donation for educational scholarships in the history of the Culinary Institute of America, giving a million dollars to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation to create an endowed scholarship fund for students attending the CIA. The scholarship is developed in memory of Alto-Shaam founder Jerry Maahs, who passed away in 2006.

The California Milk Advisory Board has named Ketchum its agency of record.

KeyImpact Sales & Systems has promoted Eric Frost to COO.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Water Cube Building will use a water filtration system manufacturered by A.J. Antunes & Co.. It will be used for generating consumable drinking water throughout the building.

Pre-cut vegetables supplier Supreme Cuts LLC has named Merle Axelrod president.

Tyson Food Service has been named Food Service Supplier of the Year by the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) for the second straight year and the third time in the past four years.

Marriner Marketing Communications has been named agency of record by Vulcan & Wolf Range.

Sodexo says it will replace existing dishwashing products and systems in all its 6,000 client sites in the United States with the new Ecolab Apex dishwashing system as part of its corporate sustainability program.

Smithfield Foods has named former Farmland Foods president George Richter to the newly created position of president/COO of its pork group. Richter spent 34 years with Farmland, which Smithfield acquired in 2003. James Sbarro has been named to succeed Richter at Farmland.