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GOURMET NEWS MAY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com Specialty Distributors & Brokers SPECIALTY DISTRIBUTORS & BROKERS 1 3 BRIEFS Produce industry veteran Doug Ranno has been named president of Harvest Sensa- tions by the company's board of directors. A U.S. specialty produce, retail and food service distributor, Harvest Sensations has state-of-the-art facilities in Los Angeles, California and Miami, Florida. Ranno will lead the company and its growth in all areas, including strategic planning, business development and over- all team development. He will report to the Harvest Sensations board of directors, cur- rently chaired by Charles Gilbert. "Harvest Sensations has an amazing and talented leadership board consisting of some of the top fresh produce entrepre- neurs in the country," said Ranno. "In ad- dition, it has great facilities, people and a logistics network that is second to none. The opportunity to help lead Harvest Sen- sations to the next level, including its ag- gressive expansion plan, was an opportunity too exciting to pass up. I am looking forward to working with the entire Harvest Sensations team!" Most recently, Ranno has been the CEO of his own consulting firm, Doug Ranno Produce. He started this company in 2013 after selling his shares in a business in which he was founding member, Col- orful Harvest LLC. Prior to that, Ranno was National Vice President of Produce and Floral for the Wild Oats Markets family of stores. He has also held execu- tive positions in marketing, sales and new business development at both Green Giant's Fresh and Chiquita Brands Inter- national. In addition, Ranno has held po- sitions as senior retailer, senior wholesaler, and senior grower/shipper, and he currently sits on the PMA Foun- dation for Industry Talent's board of di- rectors. He has also served as a United Fresh and Fresh Produce and Floral Council Board member. GN Harvest Sensations Names Doug Ranno as President DrinkSpace and Epic Wines & Spirits have formed a distribution partnership in which Epic will represent DrinkSpace's entire bev- erage portfolio within California. DrinkSpace is a Redmond, Washington- based agency that provides sales, market- ing, supply chain and logistics services to boutique alcoholic beverage producers. "Since our clients are small, artisan pro- ducers, we offer them the marketing and sales expertise they need so that they can focus on producing the best products," said Steve Reed, DrinkSpace Founder and Principal. "Our partnership with Epic is a large part of this service, giving our sup- pliers significant access and opportunities for growth within the very important Cal- ifornia market." "We are very excited about our part- nership with DrinkSpace," said Mike Simpkins, Chief Operating Officer of Sales at Epic. "They are growing quickly by adding a very unique group of bou- tique producers. We know we will be able to help these suppliers grow and build their business in the appropriate channels." GN DrinkSpace Reaches Distribution Agreement for Key California Market Manufacturer Husk Foods Takes on Distributor Role to Make Local Food an Indiana Reality As consumer demand for local food grows, many of the artisan producers that manufacture such food find distribution procurement a tough truck to load. Shop- pers want their products – and according to USDA research, are willing to pay a 10- 20 percent premium for local foods – but the larger, volume-focused distributors often do not. In Indiana, a frozen veg- etable producer has stepped in to help its peer manufacturers widen their distribu- tion to the point that some of the larger distributors on the road are taking notice – and shipping product. As its core business, Husk Foods, based in Greenfield, Indiana, supplies more than 300 large and small Indiana and bordering state retailers with homegrown frozen sweet corn, green beans and butternut squash. President and co-founder Nick Carter started the company with the goal of supplying Indiana consumers with all-nat- ural, Indiana-produced food, and after es- tablishing a good rapport with retailers – ranging from Kroger to independent natu- ral food stores – as well as some large and also local distributors, the company found itself in a position to help small and start- up manufacturers gain entry into the mar- ketplace. The Husk Farm League incubator cur- rently works with six small, all-natural food producers that source mostly local ingredients, and make products ranging from soups and baking mixes to granola, beef jerky and honey. Carter comes across new products and companies every month. "Retailers want more local prod- ucts than we can bring them," he says. "The demand for local food is starting to outpace organic." As a producer himself, he's aware of the challenges. "To get picked up by a larger distributor, you may need to have your product in 25 stores," Carter explains. "For an individual entrepreneur just start- ing out, that's a very challenging number. They're trying to manufacture the prod- uct, then go out and sell it to these stores, that could mean driving around in a 100- mile radius for that many stores … Then on top of that, they have to actually de- liver, or distribute the product to the stores. It's very difficult to negotiate that bridge from start-up to established man- ufacturer." Husk Farm League partners with these small and start-up Indiana manufacturers to create a distribution network that is es- sentially a co-op. If Brooke's Natural, which makes all-natural baking mixes from local ingredients at Husk Foods' au- thorized manufacturing facility, delivers to six stores in the eastern part of the state, and fresh refrigerated soup maker Urban Ladle sells to six stores at the west- ern end of Indiana, Husk Farm League co- ordinates distribution so that a Brooke's Natural's truck will also carry cases of Urban Ladle soups – and vice versa – so that each company has now doubled its distribution capacity to 12 stores and a widened geographical area. In addition to coordinating the delivery network, Husk Farm League draws on the solid reputation of Husk Foods' frozen veg- etables to recommend its clients' products to more than 300 of its own retail cus- tomers. The goal of Husk Farm League is not to develop into a distributor that can compete with the large operators, but rather to help its partner manufacturers reach that 25-store minimum so they can get picked up by a national, state or re- gional distributor. While Carter has no designs on compet- ing as a distributor, he does have big dreams for local food systems, and plans to share the Husk Farm League model with other states. The tide may be with Husk Farm League, as support for local food sys- tems is growing across the country. The number of local Food Hubs, which are pri- vate or government-funded organizations that perform, to different degrees, the func- tions managed by Husk Farm League, in- creased by almost 300 percent between 2007-12. "We've heard from economic develop- ment councils in the Midwest, like Wiscon- sin and Kentucky," explains Carter. "We have a repeatable model here, and helping other communities around the nation pro- duce and distribute more of their own food locally, that's our vision." GN Village Farms and Florida Organic Farms Enter Distribution Agreement Village Farms International Inc., a leading North American producer and distributor of premium- quality, greenhouse-grown fruits and vegetables, recently announced it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Florida Organic Farms International LLC, a Florida grower of USDA-certified organic produce and herbs, with field and greenhouse operations. The partnership represents Village Farms' first foray into organics distribution, with distribution slated to begin this fall. Village Farms, with U.S. headquarters in Heathrow, Florida, manages climate-controlled greenhouses, and partners with independent greenhouse farmers, throughout the United States and Canada, allowing it to deliver fresh produce to local retailers over a wide distribution. Robert Weis to Retire from Weis Markets Board Weis Markets, Inc. has announced that Robert F. Weis will not stand for re-election to its board of directors at the company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled to be held on April 23, 2015. Weis is currently the Chairman of the Board of the company, and he indicated that his decision not to stand for re-election was motivated by his desire to focus on his health. Weis has served as an employee, director or officer since 1946 and was appointed Chairman of the Board in April 2002. The board of directors has not designated a substitute nominee for Weis and has reduced the size of the company's board from six to five, effective at the Annual Meeting. Sysco Taps Joel Grade for EVP Foodservice distributor Sysco Corp. has named Joel Grade as Executive Vice President and CFO, effective Sept. 1, succeeding Chris Kreidler, who will stay on through the end of December as an adviser to the company. Grade, who joined Sysco in 1996, has served as Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer since early 2014 with responsibility for field finance, commercial finance, financial planning and analysis, financial reporting and shared services accounting. Marlene Stewart Named President of Dillons Stores Marlene Stewart has been promoted to President of The Kroger Company's Dillons division. She replaces Joe Grieshaber, who was recently named President of Kroger's Columbus division. Stewart currently serves as Vice President of Merchandising at QFC, based in Seattle, Washington. She started her career with Kroger in 1977 as a bagger in the company's Cincinnati division, where she worked full-time while attending the University of Cincinnati. She went on to serve in many leadership roles in Cincinnati, including store and district management, training and merchandising. In 2005, she was named Director of Operations for Kroger's Mid-Atlantic division before being named Vice President of Operations in 2007. She was named to her current role in 2011.

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