American Foods Group is a leading processor of value-added proteins in the U.S. and Globally that ships over 5 million pounds of beef per day. Led top-to-top client relationships with key distributors, national and chain accounts, plus QSR (Quick service restaurants).  Built lasting relationships with executives, culinary teams, purchasing staff, and supply chain specialists to deliver results. Identified opportunities for business development and negotiated pricing agreements that ensured deals closed successfully with a focus on food service accounts in California. Spearheaded business expansion and growth within customer base by understanding client needs to position AFG as essential. Customer base included R.W Zant, Shamrock Foods, Sysco, US Foods, BiRite Foodservice Distributors, Norms Restaurants, co-op groups such as Unipro, Golbon, and others.  Maintained 25% of margin in accounts, managing the broker team that included Acosta and the Core Group.

King’s Command was a manufacturer of pre-cooked and ready-to-cook meat products intended to provide quality and portion-controlled products with nationwide distribution in retail and food service.  Guided potential clients through KC’s product offering and identified areas for business growth.  Communicated with clients to maintain relationships, ensure retention, and increase sales volume among existing portfolios.  Acted as a key growth contributor in all stages of the sales life cycle, from prospecting to relationship management. Managed broker relationships at Acosta to help keep track of our target KPI (Key Performance Indictors) for the year.  Customer base with focused on retail and food service accounts that included K-12, Associated Grocers, Tony’s Fine Foods, and Save Mart Supermarkets.  Executed product knowledge presentations to different sales and marketing teams within the distributor network.  Leveraged comprehensive expertise of company products to identify clients, industry trends, and opportunities. Consistently met or exceeded sales expectations while maintaining high customer service standards.

Fuji Foods is the largest pre-packaged sushi manufacturer in the United States that has nation wide distribution in retail supermarkets and club stores.  Managed West and Mid-Western accounts in North America, with hands-on guidance of development, rollouts, and speed-to-shelf. Identified market trends and the best course of action. Exceeded sales goals, managed budgets, and improved market share. Achieved 20%+ growth per account by gaining new authorizations, utilized fact-based selling and syndicated data. Developed sales across product lines by collaborating with managers in store, deli, seafood, and retail chains.  Built strong customer relationships with business leaders from Stater Bros., WinCo Foods, Ralph’s, Food 4 Less, Fry’s, Sprouts, Southwind foods, etc.  Generated $40M+ average revenue to annual sales goals (2012). Managed new program roll-outs, customer and product launches. Maintained account portfolio through the merger and acquisition of Okami Foods into Fuji.

Okami Foods Inc. produced and distributed food products. The company provided Asian style rolls and wraps, sushi, and vegetarian products to retailers.  Provided expert-level services through hands-on customer attention, problem solving, and coordination.  Collaborated with quality control to test food products. Product ideation to rollout of a new food SKU for consideration.  Processed orders for all accounts that I managed, ensuring order accuracy, and communicated with clients. Guided product placement with grocery retail merchandisers to grab customer attention on shelves. Coordinated and organized Okami food show participation with the following distributors: Intl. Deli bakery Association, Tony’s Fine Foods, Unified Grocers of LA, Boston Seafood Show, etc. Achieved 50% sales increase on the Sam’s Club store project for new Okami product launches. This included a hands-on grass roots role of calling the meat managers and building relationships with them to ensure our products were ordered properly and top of mind for their shelves.