Ricardo Castro Email & Phone Number

Tulsa, OK, US

Fayetteville, AR, US

Chicago, US

• Directly managed strategic relationships and initiatives on sourcing activities for all categories which include Packaging, Co-Manufacturers, Ingredients and Inclusions summing up to $150mm+ in spend.
• Managed RFX & RFQ processes for all direct materials.
• Headed our secondary market initiatives for ingredients belonging to projects that were not commercialized.
• Worked with our newly created R&D and Regulatory teams on onboarding protocols for new suppliers and co-manufacturers as well as the development of new recipes and streamlining current ones.
• Headed international market exporting initiatives with domestic and international co-manufacturers to optimize FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) with countries where our enterprise exports to.

Emeryville, CA, US

• Directly managed all procurement activities for five of the largest categories spends, Sweeteners, Compound Coatings, Nut Butter Fillings, Extruded Crisps and Inclusions.
• Managed RFX & RFQ processes for all five categories, negotiating prices and keeping relationships with suppliers with $200mm+ in spend, representing 60%+ of all raw material spend.
• Worked on floor stock & safety stock projects that decreased the company’s exposure to catastrophic events and supply chain delays as well as minimizing inventory on hand at the facilities while still keeping finished.
• Led innovation projects, spearheading the sourcing of ingredients for R&D teams, with positive results for streamlining of recipes and first to market products.
• Worked with the Mondelez integration team to seamlessly hand-off my categories.

Lemont, Illinois, US

• Headed contract management, price negotiations, supply chain strategy development, supplier relationships and compliance under the Sugar Program (CQE, TRQ, Organic Tranches, Tier 2 Tariffs, etc.) for import of raw.
• Onboarded one new trade house and two direct source suppliers to the supply pool giving us access to more competitive pricing and de-risking the supply base.
• Negotiated and approved the onboarding of two new facilities as new copackers for new customers of organic liquid sucrose in the West Coast.
• Yearly volume purchases of 80,000MT+, equating to $80mm+ in spend. Weekly reports and updates on sugar markets, domestically and internationally, as well as WASDE report analyses for the enterprise.
• Managed legacy accounts for all raw materials handled and produced by Indiana Sugars.

Chicago, US

• Headed supply chain operations from origin in CAFTA, NAFTA (Mexico), South America and the Caribbean Markets into Pullman’s facilities in the Midwest, Gulf, West Coast and East Coast.
• Sourced all sugar types used to further process internally and product directly shipped to customers.
• Managed contract drafting, negotiations and compliance under the Sugar Program for import of raw materials from CAFTA, NAFTA, South America and the Caribbean.
• Yearly volume purchases of 100,000MT+, equating to $90mm+ spend. Managed third party warehousing contracting, inventories, and outbound movements.
• Tasked with overseeing outbounds of Pullman owned assets.
• Streamlined inventory management through reduction of SKU codes in our system. Onboarded one new sugar trade house to the supplier pool. Responsible for being the organization’s liaison with steamship lines, in-bound.

Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, DE

• Headed the procurement of ingredients and raw materials, as well as the direct relationships with vendors.
• Assessed and streamlined supply chain procedures, implemented new supplier qualification processes,partnered with the Quality Assurance department, and established strategic vendor partnerships.
• Raw material and ingredient categories included dry and liquid sweeteners, including 15,000MT+ of dry refined sugar, starches, pectin’s, stabilizers, emulsifiers, nut butters, fats, oils, flavors, colors and chemicals..
• Added a total of five new ingredient suppliers, working closely with R&D and QA teams internally, based out of North Africa, Europe, Mexico, Colombia and NAFTA.
• Handled cost management with info records and forecasting through SAP.
• Streamlined dry sweetener sourcing strategies and risk mitigation of commodity ingredients.

Chicago, US

• Managed raw material purchasing and direct supplier relationships (organic sugar, refined sugar, raw sugar) for liquid sucrose plants in the Midwest and West Coast.
• Sourced dry sugar for direct customer deliveries from origin and warehouses, equating to a total of 100,000MT+ yearly with a spend of $80mm+.Purchasing operations were conducted in CAFTA, NAFTA (Mexico) and South.
• Onboarded five new direct import suppliers as well as two new trade houses to the supplier pool.
• Handled compliance of import activities in accordance with the US Sugar Program, PO management and OTR operations of dry sugar supply and direct sales.

Fayetteville, AR, US

• Led an operations team in the Mexico City office consisting of two operations managers, an operations assistant and a finance manager, tasked to assist in transportation and export procedures in Mexico.
• Managed negotiation of contracts and direct relationships with NAFTA (Mexico) and CAFTA suppliers. Annual trade from CAFTA and NAFTA suppliers was 70,000MT+, equating to $55mm+ in spend.
• Established relationships with 3 different trade houses and two direct source suppliers from CAFTA and Mexico.
• Spearheaded import compliance management from all foreign suppliers. Oversaw inventory management and weekly forecasts of inbound supply into third party warehouses.

• Established our distribution center in Springdale, AR and route operations in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.
• Built sales to $400,000 annually within the first year of operating.
• Introduced new exclusive brands of CPG Nostalgic Products into the tri-state market, serving the Hispanic Convenience and Grocery Store base.
• Developed a product catalog with 125 different SKU’s.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Political Science

Education record