On the C-store and retail deli front, Federated Foodservice introduces Ian Davis, who joined the organization in October as Director of Specialty Channels. His broad experience across trade channels includes convenience stores, supermarket foodservice and broadline foodservice distributors. Most recently, Ian was Central Division Manager at McCain Foods, Limited, where he managed the foodservice business for supermarket deli, convenience stores, broadline distributors and Wal-Mart across 22 markets.

Ian is currently in the process of “diving into the channel,” as he puts it.  “Over the past few years I've seen Federated Foodservice develop an expertise in the C-Store and supermarket foodservice areas.  I'm excited that I'll be using my knowledge and experience to grow the business in areas that are specialties for both of us.  By partnering with our suppliers, I believe we can bring real value to our members who operate in these channels." Ian is based out of the Houston area in Red
Oak, Texas.

As new Director of Sales, Northeast, Bernard “Bernie” Peluso brings over 20 years of experience in foodservice sales and marketing to Federated Foodservice. Formerly the Northeast Regional Sales Manager of Nuovo Pasta, and National Sales Manager for Bittersweet Pastries, Bernie has also been a Marketing Associate with SYSCO. A lifelong resident of the New England region, Bernie resides in Waterbury, Connecticut, where his Federated sales office is located. His strong distributor relationships and solid experience in business development in the Northeast enabled Bernie to hit the ground running with Federated on September 25, 2006.{mospagebreak}

Another recent addition to the team, Susie Eshet, is the new Director of Foodservice Sales for the Central and Western regions. Susie has worked at SYSCO and EMCO (UniPro) in the corporate purchasing departments, and for the last ten years was Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing for a distributor in Houston, Texas. Her entire career has been in the food industry and has included C-Store, retail, private brand/national brand and import/export experience.  She has worked with hundreds of distributors and has sat on several national advisory boards. A winner of a number of national awards in marketing, Susie enjoys helping others find success.  Susie, having worked previously with Federated Foodservice General Manager, Patti Pacella, said, “I know that with Patti at the helm there is nothing but wild success for the future. Her dynamic ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking will bring a fresh look at foodservice and an organized team approach.” Susie is based in Houston.

Larry Warner, the new Director of Sales – Mid-East/South, has a long history with leading foodservice suppliers and buying organizations, program development as well as  private brand sales and marketing. Larry is well known for helping to drive the Nugget private label and national branded business for the Nugget Distribution Group.  More recently, he was responsible for directing sales, merchandising and marketing for manufacturers of SYSCO brands in multiple locations throughout the Southeast. Having met with many of the members of his new company, Larry’s impression of Federated members is “hard working, entrepreneurial, sharp, independent business people who are looking for and are open to new ideas and ways to increase their business.” He adds that with 350 approved suppliers in all categories of products and services for the Foodservice Industry, Federated offers supplier solutions for members. “This is an exciting challenge for me to work with them to satisfy their product needs for their customers.” Mr. Warner’s regional sales office is located in Murphy, North Carolina.

Patti Pacella, General Manager of Federated Foodservice since October 2006, has experience in this kind of team-building. “At this point, I think it’s critically important that we have a sales team with this kind of experience to take up the reigns and help lead our distributor members to greater success,” she says. “The entire company right now is focused on foodservice. This means sales and marketing, our programs, plus support from Federated Group’s other core services; Category Development, Packaging Management, Marketing and Sail Pointe Design.”

Federated Foodservice is a division of Federated Group, a privately owned, national sales and marketing firm and owner of several private brands. These include longstanding Red & White, HyTop, Parade and Better Valu brands. More recent brands include Lifemark, CuddleUps, Effortless Entrees and Prima Brite.

CONTACT: Nancy Syversen
Marketing Manager
Federated Foodservice
Ph: 847-632-8291
nancy.syversen@fedgroup.com