Lancaster Colony: Names Foodservice Division President

Westerville / OH. (lc) Lancaster Colony Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of Kristin Bird to its senior leadership team as President of T. Marzetti Company’s Foodservice Division. In her new role, Bird will be responsible for the overall management of the Foodservice Division including the development and implementation of all strategic initiatives for the company’s foodservice operations and all sales to national chain restaurant accounts and national foodservice distributors.

Lancaster Colony also announced today the retirement of Timothy A. Tate after 41 years of service with the company, including the past eight years as Senior Vice President of Foodservice.

Bird’s professional background includes 21 years in the food industry with leadership roles in marketing, brand management, sales, and foodservice channel development. Most recently, she held the position of General Manager for Basic American Foods accountable for the sales, marketing and profit of their foodservice division that encompassed a broad portfolio of branded products and national chain restaurant accounts in addition to divisions for global foodservice sales and industrial sales and partnerships. Prior to that, Bird spent 10 years with Tyson Foods including the role of Senior Vice President of Foodservice Channel Development responsible for leading strategy, marketing and category/portfolio management across foodservice. Bird earned a B.A. in Political Studies from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and completed her M.B.A. at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

David A. Ciesinski, Lancaster Colony’s President and CEO, commented, «I am thrilled to welcome Kristin to our senior leadership team. Her breadth of food industry experience and track record of accomplishments in foodservice provide a great fit for our organization. We look forward to the positive energy and strategic insights that Kristin will bring to our Foodservice Division in support of our continued growth.»

Ciesinski continued, «I would also like to thank Tim Tate for the countless contributions he made to our business over the past 41 years. His commitment and leadership were clearly instrumental to the historic growth and success of our Foodservice Division. I wish Tim all the best in his retirement.»