Milestones in the industry

Alcan Packaging Food Americas, Chicago-Two key management appointments have been made. Gene Welsh named v.p. and gen. mgr. of Meat & Dairy Flexibles North America, Rigid Containers & Celply. Richard Company has been promoted to v.p. and gen. mgr. of Alcan Food Packaging South America. Welsh joined Alcan Packaging in 2002. Most recently, he held the position of v.p. of sales for the company. Company’s new role is also a new position at Alcan Packaging, which strengthens its focus on the South American market. Richard Company started at Alcan Packaging in 2001 as head of strategy and development.

Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed Inc. -Gerald Lisowski has joins as gen. mgr. He is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership for the company’s business, which is focused primarily in North America and Latin America.  Lisowski brings more than 20 years of business leadership experience to Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed.  Most recently, he served as v.p. and gen. mgr. of Taiyo Birdair Corp. 

LightFull Foods Inc., San Francisco-Victoria Hartman joins as v.p. of sales. A natural and organic industry veteran, Hartman brings a proven track-record of executive sales leadership in rapid-growth, entrepreneurial companies including Charter Baking Company Inc.; Rudi’s Organic Bakery LLC; Horizon Organic Dairy and Celestial Seasonings Inc. Hartman will lead the LigthFull’s accelerated expansion into strategic new accounts, grow and develop the company’s sales team and expand its broker and distributor network.  She will report to Lara Jackle, LightFull Foods’ chief executive officer.

D.D. Williamson, Louisville, Ky. -Three associates hired. Jennifer Guild joins as global food science and regulatory mgr., Jody Renner-Nantz as food science chemist, and Richard Wiebke as global quality mgr. The new position of global food science and Regulatory Manager was created to add depth to D.D. Williamson’s Science and Innovation team. Guild comes to D.D. Williamson with extensive experience with regulatory compliance, most recently with T. Hasegawa. Renner-Nantz brings additional talent and capacity for new product and application development. She has worked with food science experts at University of California. Wiebke works with D.D. Williamson’s nine plants to maintain and improve the quality of products and services the company’s customers have come to expect. He has extensive experience with quality management in the food industry with companies such as Rich Products, ConAgra Foods and RJR Nabisco.

Sidebar: Ireland's Paul Ross Receives Haines Award

DAVIS, Calif.-The California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF) has presented Paul Ross, the head of Ireland’s Teagasc Moorepark Biotechnology Centre, with the William C. Haines Dairy Science Award.

The award presentation took place in February at the 9th Cal Poly Dairy Ingredients Symposium in San Francisco, where Ross gave a presentation on mining biodiversity for fermented dairy products such as yogurt and cheese.

“Paul is an outstanding selection to win this award,” said Joseph O’Donnell, exec. dir. of the CDRF. “He has played a leading role in creating a multinational focus on developing and delivering dairy products to a world in need of improved nutrition.”

Established in 2004, the William C. Haines Dairy Science Award was created to recognize individuals in research and development in the field of chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, technology, nutrition, and/or engineering, have made a significant contribution to dairy science and the betterment of the dairy industry. The award is named for William C. Haines, former v.p. of innovation for Dairy Management Inc.