Mark Garcia Email & Phone Number

Batavia, Il, Us

* Lead and develop a high-performing culinary team of 150-200 employees in a full-scratch kitchen fostering a culture of growth, collaboration, and continuous improvement preparing 1MM meals per week from a dynamic weekly menu of 45-55 fresh recipes.* Drive daily culinary operations, ensuring efficient production while maintaining high food safety and quality standards, in line with HACCP, SQF, and GMP compliance.* Spearhead Factor Culinary Academy, working with Kitchen Operations and Commercialization teams to enhance culinary training, performance, and innovation.* Collaborate with senior leadership to create and implement strategic operational roadmaps, focusing on safety, quality, cost, and delivery improvements across all kitchen operations.* Utilize Lean manufacturing principles to streamline kitchen operations, reduce waste, and optimize production efficiency, contributing to improved profitability.* Develop and execute individualized growth plans for Chefs, using Core Competencies, 1:1 coaching, and Quarterly Chef Rankings to enhance team performance and career development.* Drive a customer-focused environment, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, innovative meals that meet customer expectations and operational goals.* Mentor and train cross-functional teams, fostering a collaborative culture that values feedback, adaptability, and proactive problem-solving in a dynamic work environment.* Implement inventory control strategies, improving warehouse management and inventory tracking systems (WMS implementation) to optimize fresh supply chain efficiency with minimal shrink.* Strategically manage operations through data-driven decision-making, translating key metrics into actionable improvements to support long-term business growth and operational alignment.

Fellsmere, Fl, Us

• Serve as Head of Business and Culinary Development throughout the Central, Southwest & Westcoast Regions, overseeing an $18MM+ book of business• Integral in the culinary creation & development of innovative portfolio produce items• Leverage expertise to teach & train clients from chef 2 chef and buyers how the B&W products were superior to others, as well as trends analysis concerning customer tastes, generating a 39.94% total sales increase and earning #1 in the company for 2 years running• Focused sales initiatives around the delivery of a premium brand, not the cheapest brand• Emphasized the company’s growing and harvesting process to deliver a product that can be used immediately, providing an excellent presentation & taste from a company that has not had a recall in 150 years• Secured 8 new Food Service distributors, including Chef’s Warehouse, California Specialty Farms, Houston Avocado, Mr. Green’s Austin, Hardie’s, Kalil, Produce Connection, and Flavorful Fresh, as well as 7 new National and Regional Restaurant Chains, including Landry’s, Eataly, Russo’s Pizzeria, BJ’s Restaurants, Season’s 52, Capital Grill, and P.F. Chang’s• Oversaw the development and management of AOR (Foodmix) marketing and creative activities, leading in the development of 2 new websites for the brand, new trade show booth development, new training and presentation creative, as well as the recipe development and food photography• Responsible for developing and strengthening the pull-through strategy with chefs and culinary innovation teams• Utilized extensive expertise to provide strategic direction and guidance to executive leadership following the layoff of the Sales and Marketing team during the COVID-19 pandemic• Introduced complimentary menu/equipment programs for chefs and food service operations, collaborating with the Texas Beef Council, Kitchen Aid USA, and the Culinary Institute of America to highlight the use of watercress and arugula on menu

Des Moines, Ia, Us

• Responsible for leading a team of 4 Category Managers and 1 Corporate Chef in overseeing all fresh food service and beverage activities spanning 400 unities within 11 states, maintaining full P&L responsibility for the $150MM in sales• Launched the Bean to Cup fresh brewed-to-order gourmet coffee program that generated a 20% increase in revenue and an 85% decrease in waste across the category, as well as a reduction in labor cost• Created and completed 2 phases of the organizational program, including revamping the R&D pipeline for new fresh food innovation and LTOs in the marketing pipeline and launching a digital ordering platform• Transitioned the focus of marketing collateral and creative food service digital pictures for marketing from food-focused to convenient store-focused• Designed and implemented Hispanic marketing within core markets where none had existed previously, delivering an immediate 18% lift in morning coffee, beverage, and meal sales and a 10% increase in the afternoon

United States , Us

As a board member and advisor to the Executive Leadership Team at Chef's Roll, I am a key architect, strategist and brand builder for one of the premier New Economy companies catering directly to the professional culinary community.The Chef's Roll model is producing some of the best case studies in online branding, promotion, digital marketing as well as expanded products and services.As a digital and interactive marketer focused on results, the team and I have the responsibility for digital strategy, platform implementation and go-to-market plans that must execute flawlessly and profitably.I am blessed to be active in the broader industry via press interviews (Fast Company, WSJ, USA Today, CNN, Esquire, etc) speaking at industry events and university presentations

Irving, Texas, Us

Lead Director for All US Foodservice Strategic Marketing, Branding, Recipe Development & Commercialization Efforts Across Print, Digital, Partner LTO's/Menu Additions and Event Showcases for Trade Marketing Association with An Approx $60MM Marketing Budget.Lead and direct all strategies & campaigns for increasing brand equity and market penetration into all facets of the foodservice world. My Foodservice team drives the execution and profitability of marketing strategies with our restaurant, retail foodservice, hotel operator partners, C&U partners and Business & Industry partners.Full P/L responsibility for creative, PR and media budget for Foodservice focused marketing, branding and PR activities. Lead for all brand and content marketing efforts for US Foodservice market.I function as both the Corporate Executive Chef & Product Ambassador to the retail and restaurant industry. Lead and direct all recipe inspiration & development & innovation work, as well as all training and technique programs.--> Visit http://AvocadosFromMexico.com/foodservice To Discover More Avocado Recipes, Tips & Techniques AFM's goal is to increase menu and recipe inclusion of fresh Avocados from Mexico in not only the chef community and college/university dining services, but with all major restaurant chains as well.Yearly LTO's or Menu Promotions with:-Aramark, Chipotle, Cheesecake Factory, Chili's, Del Taco, El Pollo Loco, HMS Host, Jason's Deli, Johnny Rocket's, Pot Belly, Real Mex, Marriott, McAlister's Deli, Pappasito's, Sodexo, On The Border, Omni Hotels, Yearly Menu Promotions or Live Events with major C&U Partners:- Penn State, UMASS, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, USC, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, UCONN, Stanford, Michigan, and Vanderbilt.First fresh produce brand to ever run a Super Bowl commercial at the 2015 Big Game. We have now completed 4 Super Bowl campaigns and during our 2017 Super Bowl campaign, we generated over 7 Billion media impressions and engagements.

Hunt Valley, Maryland, Us

In this newly created position I served as the company's first-ever Director of Digital Marketing and was responsible for an enterprise-wide, growth-led, digital transformation process in the Consumer Products Division (CPD). Other business groups under my leadership were the McCormick Kitchens and Flavor University. I was also an integral member of the team that initially created Flavor Print for McCormick.My Team And I Owned the Responsibility For Bringing To Life McCormick's "Passion For Flavor" core message.We accomplished this strategic objective through three distinct, but integrated platforms. One, overseeing the creation, delivery and execution of all Digital, Mobile and Social Media Marketing across the global branded portfolio. Our process insured that we delivered "Best In Class" customer engagement, inspiration and service. We strengthened and increased brand equity, revenue and profit via multi-channel integration of Social Media, Digital Platforms and Mobile Apps.Through McCormick Kitchens,we handled all culinary & recipe marketing and product R&D. We developed innovative brand user experiences and concepts.Flavor Academy and Flavor University were segments of our internal and external customer engagement and training suite.Finally, Consumer Affairs and Customer Service were handled through my group as well.

I have been a professional speaker since 2001. Since that time, I've given hundreds of speeches, led dozens of webinars, workshops and training sessions. I made it my goal that each one was unique, memorable, and beneficial to my audience and clients. I comment on current trends or newsworthy items as well as share marketing insight in all of my media.My topics may have changed over the years, but the best way to find what's new and current is to visit:http://www.ChefMarkGarcia.comThere you will see my current speaking topics (though we can always create something unique and positioned for your group), videos of my presentations, and you will get a sense of my speaking style and the caliber of my clients.I strive to be both entertaining and informative. I never leave a training or presentation without giving industry specific, actionable takeaways.I also teach and train professional chefs, restaurateurs and culinary executives how to better market and position themselves or their brands, so that they grow their business and make more profit. Through C/MG Media Group I teach strategic branding, positioning and licensing, and training.My areas of expertise include; leadership development, licensing, branding, social media marketing, media training for chefs and personal coaching. The company also brings to market products, services, retail food lines, and educational programs for the professional chef, hotels, restaurants, gourmet retailers and culinary organizations.Current portfolio of clients includes numerous celebrity chefs, musicians, professional sports stars, actors, and alcoholic beverage companies. I also conduct training sessions for Fortune 500 Companies with a unique culinary aspect, differing from the traditional format.The firm's educational programs are supported by a medley of consulting services, licensing and coaching programs.

A creative design and culinary agency specializing in both intellectual and tangible outputs of concept, marketing culinary innovation and business development. The Retail Food Group creatively supported idea generation, market strategy, product formulation,recipe development, design and brand building for integration into CPG, foodservice, hospitality and retail markets. Lone Star Digital Mavericks was created as the in-house digital marketing team specializing in online branding and consulting using digital media and web 2.0 technologies. Lone Star Digital Mavericks is also responsible for creating and delivering all traditional print, TV and radio assets and campaignsServices Offered:* Concept Development & Ideation* Menu Development & Integration* Culinary POV & Recipe Development for consumer and professional* Product Design/Development* Market Development* Front and Back of House Design* Vertical Development* Brand Development* Strategic Consulting* Writing/Speaking/Teaching* Food Styling and Food Photography* Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing* SEM, SEO, PPC and Strategic Website DevelopmentFor these Markets:* Foodservice* Retail* CPG* Manufacturing* Casual Dining, White Tablecloth, and QSR Restaurants* Hotels and Resorts* Celebrity Chefs, Musicians and Sports ProfessionalsWith Special Expertise In These Areas: Culinary Innovation Beverage Healthy  Sustainable Natural & Organic

Culinary Arts

Emba, Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, Business, Management And Marketing Communication

Bachelor Of Business Administration - Bba