Milling & Baking News - April 23, 2019 - 30

People

Greg Pearson joins Pretzels, Inc.
as new chief executive officer
BLUFFTON, IND. - Greg Pearson
has been named chief executive officer of Pretzels, Inc., a producer of
pretzels, filled pretzels and extruded
snacks. He succeeds William A. (Chip)
Mann II, who will continue to serve as
executive vice-president of sales and
as a member of the company's board.
Prior to joining Pretzels, Mr. Pearson was with Chewy, an online pet
product retailer, where he worked
as head of marketing and vice-president and general manager of private brands. Before Chewy, he was
vice-president and general manager
of pasta at TreeHouse Foods. He earlier was vice-president and general
manager of pasta and global brand
director at Conagra Brands, Inc. He
began his career with General Mills,
Inc., holding marketing management
positions in the company's cereal and
baking products units.
Mr. Pearson was chairman of the
National Pasta Association from

March 2015 to September 2016, and
he has served on the boards of Pasta
Lensi s.r.l. and Think Small.
He received a bachelor's degree in
history from Carleton College
and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.
"We are delighted to welcome
Greg to the Pretzels team,"
said Robert Strauss, a member
of Pretzels' board. "Greg is a Pearson
highly talented executive who
has an impressive history of leadership roles within both private and nationally branded food companies. His
demonstrated track record of driving
significant value creation across both
sales and operations is a great fit for
Pretzels, and we look forward to leveraging his expertise as we execute
on numerous growth initiatives."
Mr. Mann is the youngest of four
children and the only son of Bill and
Betty Mann, who co-founded Pretzels,

Tim Miller retires from Grain Craft
after 40 years in flour milling
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - Tim Miller, vice-president of national accounts at
Grain Craft, has announced his retirement after more than 40 years in
the flour milling industry.
Mr. Miller began his career in
flour milling in 1977 while working summers at the Cereal Food
Processors' mill in Rosedale, Kas.
During this time, he also was pursuing a degree in business at Kan- Miller
sas State University. In 1982, after
graduating from K.S.U., he was hired by
Cereal Food Processors' founder, the late
Fred Merrill, to work in the company's
Cleveland mill as warehouse supervisor.
In 1984 he transitioned to sales and in

1990 was promoted to senior vice-president
of sales. He remained in this position until
2014, when Millner Milling and Pendleton
Flour Mills acquired Cereal Food
Processors and formed Grain Craft.
Following the acquisition, Mr. Miller was named vice-president of national accounts for Grain Craft.
In addition to his sales leadership, Mr. Miller held numerous
roles throughout his tenure within
industry organizations. He was a
member of the boards of the Texas Allied Trades Association, the Texas Bakers
Association, the Midwest Allied Trades
of the Baking Industry, the National Allied Trades of the Baking Industry and

Ed Mlotek joins REPCO in sales
and customer service role
SALINA, KAS. - Edward Mlotek has
joined REPCO as vice-president of sales.
In his new role, Mr. Mlotek will provide
support and guidance to the sales and
customer service teams in development
of key sales strategies across all divisions of REPCO.
Mr. Mlotek has spent the past 13 years
30 / April 23, 2019

Milling & Baking News

with Ingredion, Inc./Corn Products International/National Starch Food Innovation, as director of sales for the Eastern region and distributors. Earlier, he
held various key sales management roles
with DSM Nutritional Products, Inc. and
Roche Vitamins, Inc.
He received a bachelor's degree in business

Inc. along with Bill Huggins. He joined
the company after graduating in 1987
from Western Michigan University.
Mr. Mann's primary function at
Pretzels, Inc. has been focused on
sales development and customer relations. He continues to call on key accounts and is instrumental in product
development. He also is deeply
involved in SNAC International
(formerly Snack Food Association), sitting on many management workshop committees. He
was chairman of the association
during 2013-14.
Pretzels, Inc. was acquired
by an affiliate of private equity
firm Peak Rock Capital in October
2018. Headquartered in Bluffton, Pretzels supplies a range of salty snack
products, including traditional, peanut butter-filled, flavored, seasonal
and gluten-free pretzels, as well as extruded snack products. The company
has manufacturing facilities in Bluffton and Plymouth, Ind. The Plymouth
facility opened in 2017 and is responsible for peanut butter pretzel and bulk
pretzel production. MBN

the American Bakers Association. He
also has held leadership roles for the
Midwest Allied Trades of the Baking
Industry (secretary/treasurer, vice-president, president); National Allied Trades
of the Baking Industry (secretary/treasurer, vice-president, president); A.B.A.
(co-chairman of the Executive Leadership Development Committee); and the
American Society of Baking (session
chairman, program chairman, Advisory
Committee, Executive Committee).
"Many thanks to my family and the
many years of building relationships with
company associates, industry friends
and associates and the many long-term
customers," Mr. Miller said. "I especially
want to thank Fred Merrill for giving me a
chance of becoming a part of such a wonderful industry and having such a rewarding career with so many great people." MBN
administration, marketing and finance
from Loyola University Chicago.
"We are excited to have Ed join the
REPCO team to help grow our sales in
every category of our company," said
Monte White, president and chief executive officer of REPCO. "Not only does Ed
provide a depth of knowledge in the industries we serve, but also in new opportunities. Ed is a seasoned leader to add to
our dynamic sales team that truly values
the relationship with our customers." MBN
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Milling & Baking News - April 23, 2019

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