PEOPLE NEWS

NEW YORK – Duke Manufacturing Co., based in St. Louis, recently hired Roman Stone as vice president of sales for worldwide chains, to succeed Larry Miller, VP and general manager of Duke Convenience Group. Stone has held leadership positions at 7-Eleven, Hot Stuff, Kentucky Fried Chicken and PepsiCo.

"We are excited that Roman is joining the Duke sales leadership team," said Douglas George, senior vice president of sales and marketing, in a company statement. "His industry knowledge and experience will be a great asset in helping us to continue to deliver leading edge foodservice solutions to the c-store industry."

After almost 10 years with Duke, Miller resigned effective Aug. 31 to pursue new business opportunities within the convenience foodservice retailing industry. Miller has worked with Duke Manufacturing since 1998.

In other people news, General Mills (GM), based in Minneapolis, has appointed Tim Fieldhouse to vice president/general manager of convenience channels. In his new role, Fieldhouse is responsible for segments including convenience stores, vending and nonfood retailers, as well as the company's restaurant accounts business segment.

Fieldhouse was most recently vice president of strategic planning in the consumer foods sales division, where he was responsible for category management, applied shopper insights, efficient replenishment, business planning and sales information systems. He was named to this position in 2004.

Fieldhouse joined General Mills in 1988 as a sales representative in the Southeast region.

In other GM people news, Brian Berger has been appointed to vice president of business development for General Mills Bakeries & Foodservice, where he will identify new business channel and portfolio development opportunities for the division.

He was most recently vice president/general manager of foodservice and restaurant accounts, a position he has held since 2004. Berger has held various senior sales and leadership positions since joining General Mills in 1993.

In other people news, the expansion of Hot Stuff Foods, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., into current and new channels has brought career opportunities for development professionals.

"We've already hired 12 development professionals since the beginning of the year and need several more professionals immediately to keep up with expansion and growth plans," said John Barber, executive vice president of business development, in a statement from the company.

According to Barber, a number of factors have contributed to Hot Stuff's expanding personnel needs.

"Just within the last year, we've acquired a top-notch packaged foods supplier [Lettieri’s Foods], we've refined our convenience store franchise program to provide new franchisees even higher foodservice gross margins than before, and we are growing our business in channels such as healthcare, education and the United States military," he said.

In other people news, Birmingham, Ala.-based Chester's International, the leading fried chicken foodservice offering for c-stores, recently named Richard Davis as VP of systems management. Davis will oversee new store openings, including construction, remodels and legal agreements.

Davis has been with Chester’'s International for 10 years, previously holding the position of director of management information systems. In his new role, he will take on construction and remodels of Chester's locations.

"Chester's has an ongoing commitment to finding the newest technology available so that we can constantly improve our processes," Davis said in a release from the company. "In addition to the continuous improvement, Chester's has always been focused on employee development, something our franchisees and I have grown to appreciate about the company."

In other people news, Love and Quiches Desserts, based in Freeport, N.Y., announced the appointments of Jeffrey Purdy and James Cleveland as Western and Southeast regional sales managers, respectively.

Purdy brings 20 years of experience in national, regional and distribution sales management and marketing to the company. His prior positions include national accounts management at Worthington Foods Inc. and most recently, Dreyer's. He also served as general manager of the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Tempe, Ariz., from 1999 to 2001. In his new position, he will be responsible for growing sales in the Western U.S.

Cleveland has more than 20 years of sales and sales management experience in the food industry, managing both direct and broker sales forces. He began at International Home Foods Inc., managing retail grocery, foodservice and vending sales across numerous districts in the Southeast. Most recently, he was Southern regional manager at Ruiz Food Products Inc. Cleveland will manage all sales in the Southeastern U.S.

In other people news, Robert Mitchum has been named to the newly created position of chief operating officer and president of Network Services Co., based in Mount Prospect, Ill., effective August 31, 2007. Mitchum is currently Network's chief financial officer. R. James Alexy continues as Network's chief executive officer.

Network Services Co. is an international organization of independent distributors providing janitorial supplies, foodservice disposables, industrial packaging products and printing materials.

In other people news, A.J. Antunes & Co., a Carol Stream, Ill.-based manufacturer of water filtration systems, electronic controls, countertop foodservice equipment, and air and gas pressure switches, recently appointed Bill Brockhaus to the newly created position of director of international water filtration.

Brockhaus, a 32-year veteran of the water treatment industry, will be responsible for international sales goals and an international distributor network, including the selection, training and management of personnel. Initially, his focus will be the Asia/Pacific markets, Europe and Latin America, and on the company's Total Assurance Package (TAP), a revolutionary point-of-entry ultra-filtration system that removes the bacteria, viruses, particulates, chlorine and odors present in a typical water supply.

"We are delighted to have Bill on our team and are enthusiastic about his ability to increase distribution and service to customers within and beyond the 130-plus countries we currently serve," said Glenn Bullock, president of A.J. Antunes & Co., in a company statement. "Bill's strong customer relationships, international business development experience and knowledge of the foodservice industry's pure water needs are unequaled."

Before joining A.J. Antunes & Co., Brockhaus served as director, international development for Everpure LLC for 11 years. During an additional 21 years with the company, he managed or directed Asia/Pacific, Japan and U.S. regional operations.

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