Baldor expands leadership team
Baldor Specialty Foods, one of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic’s largest produce and specialty foods distributors, has appointed Scott Crawford as vice president of merchandising and Scott T. King as vice president of sales.
Crawford comes most recently from Fresh Direct, where he was chief merchandising officer. He previously led the prepared foods division at Whole Foods Market across several regions and has an extensive background in kitchens across America.
At Baldor, merchandising is central to the company's promise of providing customers with quality they can trust; Crawford will ensure it is evolving its catalogue by bringing to market new and emerging producers and farms that match its values and the needs of customers, as well as building stronger relationships with core and legacy partners and suppliers. His team also supports vendors in their growth trajectories.
“Working in the distribution business, albeit on the consumer side, I’ve watched Baldor for years and have long seen them as an industry model for their commitment to premium products,” said Crawford. “I am eager to bring the experience gained from Fresh Direct to continue to strengthen our product portfolio, further our commitments to responsible sourcing, and our deepen our relationships with incredible vendors.”
King hails from Tropicana, where he was senior director of sales; he worked for more than a dozen years at PepsiCo, including on the Frito Lay and Tropicana brands, leading and developing sales strategies for teams in various divisions. The second part of Baldor’s promise to customers is service that delivers, and King’s role is critical to the evolution of this promise. He will be tasked with leading the sales organization and building processes and capabilities that improve the company’s partnership with its customers and fuel growth over the long term.
“What attracted me to Baldor is the fact that they’re an industry leading operator that prioritizes the customer experience, focusing on service with a large portfolio of diverse and high-quality items,” said King.
Both Crawford and King will report to Benjamin Walker, senior vice president of sales, marketing and merchandising.
“In the executive search for these roles, we were very careful to look for leaders who could help us strengthen our strategies, systems, and processes, but most importantly who would complement our existing culture,” said Walker. “It is also important that they share our customer-centric approach and have the highest quality food and service standards in the industry. We were fortunate to find that in Scott and Scott.”
“As our business has grown to its current position — a service area that stretches from Maine to Virginia, a customer base of more than 10,000, and an employee population of more than 2,000 people — we’ve recognized the need to scale up our leadership team,” said Baldor President Michael Muzyk. “We’re purposefully but carefully widening the org chart and strengthening with outside talent that bring best-in-class practices and processes. Our goal is to ever evolve in our promise of quality you can trust and service that delivers, and we’re confident that these hires will help us do that.”
The new placements come in addition to five other senior leadership hires completed over the last year:
Catherine Jones joined Baldor last April as senior vice president of human resources from a position leading HR at architectural services firm Stuart Dean. She previously held roles at O2 and Computacenter.
Krenar Jusufi joined Baldor last June as vice president of automation and engineering from HelloFresh where he was director of automation and engineering; he previously held roles at Sealed Air and ASML.
Margaret Magnarelli joined last July as vice president of marketing and communications from Morgan Stanley, where she was executive director of digital marketing; she previously held roles at Monster.com and Money magazine.
Rebecca Lay joined last September as vice president of supply chain from L&R Distributors, where she was vice president of SIOP and procurement; she previously held roles at Chanel and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Karl Klouda joined in May as vice president of finance, from a 17-year career in corporate finance at Sharp Electronics, most recently as culminating in a role as associate vice president of planning and analysis.
“We set ourselves on a path to create a sustainable food system that ensures the success of our customers and partners. Our focus is to continue improving the quality of the services and products we offer,” said Baldor Owner and CEO TJ Murphy. “The hires we’ve made in the last two years are a foundation for our next chapter.”
Photo: Scott T. King and Scott Crawford
