Gourmet News

Legacy Food Group’s CEO Push appointed Executive Chairman

Published November 4, 2024

Legacy Food Group’s CEO Steve Push has been appointed executive chairman of the board, a newly created position that continues his leadership role within the company. This move allows Push greater strategic focus on the firm’s mission to acquire regional independent distributors.

“The new chairman role provides me the opportunity to place greater emphasis on long-term growth, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships,” said Push. “My role as CEO has been involved with helping create a strong team, cultivating a strong culture, as well as bringing new companies into the LFG Family.

“I am incredibly proud of the world class team we are building, which will fuel our future successes. This transition will allow me to dedicate more of my time to expanding our acquisitions efforts, and focus on strategic growth. This will help us continue to build Legacy Food Group into a recognized force in the foodservice distribution industry.”

Before LFG, Push served as CEO and chairman of Legacy Foodservice Alliance, which he founded in 2009 to facilitate commerce between independent foodservice distributors and suppliers. Push has a long history in the foodservice industry, having held senior management roles at Pocahontas Foods USA and Progressive Group Alliance from 1983 to 2009, where he focused on sales, marketing, and distributor development.

LFG has experienced tremendous growth since its inception last September, bringing together five independent foodservice distributors spanning different markets who now operate as local Operating Divisions of LFG: Keck’s Food Service, M&V Provisions, Thomsen Foodservice, Best Mexican Foods and Halsey Foodservice.

“We will continue to grow by offering high-quality regional distributors the benefits of greater scale that come with our shared resources and group buying power while retaining the local identity and management that make them unique in their local market,” said Push.

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IFMA Adds The Food Away From Home Association to Name

Published November 4, 2024

After decades of branding itself the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, a new identity for the 72-year-old organization was revealed – IFMA The Food Away from Home Association.

Announced this morning at the organization’s Presidents Conference, the change was prompted by the association’s recent long-term strategic planning that included intensive self-examination and taking a clear-eyed look at the state of the industry.

After the pandemic years, it became clear that the foodservice supply chain and ecosystem are interconnected, with manufacturers, operators and distribution partners needing each other to address critical challenges. Through surveys and in conversations with existing members and industry peers, IFMA realized that it was time for the organization to adapt to the needs of the industry it serves. The association says the new identity will more accurately reflect its strategy to represent the entire food-away-from-home marketplace.

“We have committed to the whole industry by broadening our membership rolls,” said Ben Wexler, president of Custom Culinary and 2024 board chair. “We know that manufacturers remain at the core of all we do, and by adding new categories of membership – notably operators, those in the supply chain, and service providers to our industry – we can better engage the entire ecosystem. It’s critical we all work together – not in silos – to address critical issues that advance the industry.”

Keeping IFMA as part of the association name was critical to the group. “It’s important to us that we maintain our legacy as IFMA while growing to serve a more dynamic and transformed foodservice community,” said Phil Kafarakis, President & CEO of IFMA The Food Away Association. “Our new name is purposeful and sets a clearer and more powerful message about who we are as an organization.”

The new brand logo includes a graphic depiction of four intersecting “swirls” that represent segments of the industry joining together through the work of the association to empower, nurture, and connect the whole ecosystem.

Group vice president, field sales at Cargill, and incoming 2025 board chair, Teri Trullinger explained, “Our expanded membership enables us to be the industry connector, creating a gathering spot where challenges that face all segments can be addressed. We’ll be leveraging the breadth of membership to meet our mission to lead a dynamic, transparent, and engaged food-away-from-home community” .

With plans for a soft brand roll-out between now and January, followed by full rebranding in the new year, the organization also plans to champion cross-industry initiatives to bring the industry together to collaborate on important issues. The first initiative will focus on addressing food waste across the segments of food-away-from-home.

More on IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, including details on membership and future events, can be found at ifmaworld.com.

IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is a trade association founded in 1952. The organization empowers, nurtures, and connects an inclusive and diverse $1.5 trillion food-away-from-home ecosystem of manufacturers, distributors, operators, and others. By sharing insights, fostering best practices, and developing networking and educational opportunities through events, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association informs and instructs its members, and motivates change to improve both individual organizations and the food-away-from-home industry at large.

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Point Reyes Cheese Collection Lands on Oprah’s List

Published November 1, 2024

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company’s Cheese & Thank You gift collection is included in 2024 Oprah’s Favorite Things holiday gifts list featured on OprahDaily.com and in Oprah Daily’s special print 2024 Holiday Edition, on newsstands nationwide on Nov. 12. This is the second year in a row that Point Reyes’ award-winning artisan cheese has made the prestigious list.

This year, most gifts were selected from inspiring small businesses, including women-owned, Black-owned and other minority-owned businesses from around the country. To shop the full list of items please visit: https://www.oprahdaily.com/oprahs-favorite-things-2024.

The Cheese & Thank You gift collection is available for purchase at www.pointreyescheese.com and in the Oprah’s Favorite Things gift guide exclusively in Amazon’s store at amazon.com/oprah, as well as via the Amazon shopping app.

As Oprah says on OprahDaily.com, Cheese lovers, hostesses, in-laws…these are just some of the folks who will fall for these artisanal cheeses. The TomaRashi, Gouda, Bay Blue, and Truffle Brie come along with sweet olive-oil crackers and a sour-cherry spread. They’ll put the enclosed cheese knife to use immediately.”

The Cheese & Thank You gift collection brings together a delicious selection of handcrafted cheeses with delicious accompaniments that together create a ready-to-serve appetizer or delectable after-dinner cheese course. This pack includes: TomaRashi, featuring a togarashi spice blend with gentle heat, umami, and nutty flavors; Bay Blue, a rustic-style blue cheese with mellow flavor and sweet salted caramel finish; Gouda, with notes of hazelnuts, butterscotch, and cooked cream; Truffle Brie, luxuriously silky-smooth and studded with black summer truffles; Divina Sour Cherry Spread; Ines Rosales Cocoa Cayenne Pepper Sweet Olive Oil Crackers; and a handy Point Reyes cheese knife.

Co-Founder of the women-owned Point Reyes Farmstead Lynn Giacomini Stray explains, Cheese & Thank You is perfect for any holiday occasion where a simple gift just isn’t enough – because sometimes the best way to show appreciation is through the universal language of cheese!” Oprah’s Favorite Things list is a must-have holiday shopping guide that features the most ingenious gadgets, fashionable sustainable goods, decadent desserts and the finest finds in home, fashion, and beauty, with 51 gifts under $50. For more than 25 years, the brand has showcased must-give gifts for the holidays, often serving as a launch pad for small businesses and highlighting the inspiring stories of the owners behind the products.

As Oprah’s Favorite Things celebrates the 10th anniversary of Amazon’s partnership, The Cheese & Thank You gift collection is available for purchase at www.pointreyescheese.com and exclusively in Amazon’s store at amazon.com/oprah, as well as the Amazon shopping app. More than 60% of sales on Amazon’s store come from independent sellers – most of which are small and medium sized businesses. To shop the full list of items please visit: https://www.oprahdaily.com/oprahs-favorite-things-2024.

Twelve lucky readers will have the chance to win all of the items on Oprah’s Favorite Things List in the 12-Day Give-O-Way Sweepstakes (https://oprahdaily.com/favoritethings) which runs from November 12 through Nov. 23. Oprah Daily’s special print 2024 Holiday Edition featuring the The Cheese & Thank You gift collection on the 2024 Oprah’s Favorite Things List hits newsstands nationwide on Nov. 12.

In 1959 Bob and Dean Giacomini established their sustainable dairy farm along Highway 1, just north of Point Reyes Station. In 2000, together with their daughters, the family began making cheese on the farm with milk from their own herd of Holsteins. In 2010, the family opened The Fork, a culinary and educational center, offering farm-to-table educational experiences for both consumers and the trade.

Three of the Giacomini sisters, Diana, Lynn and Jill now own and run the WBENC-certified, 100 percent women-owned company that is recognized internationally as an award-winning producer of best-in-class, hand-crafted, artisan cheese. With production locations on the farm and in nearby Petaluma, the Point Reyes Farmstead product line contains Original Blue, Bay Blue, Toma, TomaProvence, TomaTruffle, TomaRashi, Gouda, Quinta, Truffle Brie and Fennel Blue. The product line is available nationally at independent cheese shops and specialty grocers and online at pointreyescheese.com

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