KANSAS CITY — Promotions at TreeHouse, Nestle and Crown Bakeries headline key personnel moves taking place across the food industry. The moves include: 

Josh Britton has joined Oak Brook, Ill.-based TreeHouse Foods as director of procurement. Mr. Britton joins TreeHouse from Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., where he spent the past five-plus years as senior manager of commodities. Earlier, he was a commodity procurement manager at Ebro NA for Ebro Foods SA for nearly five years and a commercial manager at ADM Milling for more than five years. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics at Texas Tech University and a master’s degree in business administration at Rice Business —Jones Graduate School of Business. 

Veeral Shah has been promoted to chief e-commerce and digital officer at Nestle USA, Arlington, Va. Mr. Shah most recently was vice president of commercial strategy and development at Nestle USA since February 2019. Prior to Nestle he was with Campbell Soup Co. for eight years in a variety of roles, including vice president/general manager of e-commerce and digital, vice president of customer planning and category strategy, vice president of sales — growth channels, and director of sales planning and strategy. Earlier, he was associate product director at Johnson & Johnson and also worked in finance, sales and category management roles at Kellogg Co. He began his career as a consultant with Accenture. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in strategic management and marketing at Northwestern University — Kellogg School of Management. 

Brian Mercier has been named director of food safety and quality at Crown Bakeries, Flowery Branch, Ga. In his new role he will be responsible for managing all aspects of food safety and quality-related functions for the multi-plant organization. Previously he was FSQA manager since September 2021. Before joining Crown Bakeries Mr. Mercier was quality assurance and food safety manager at Summit Hill Foods. Earlier, he was senior regulatory specialist and quality manager at Southeastern Mills. He also has worked as a quality assurance coordinator at The Coca-Cola Co. and a lead operator at Publix Super Markets. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Shorter University. 

Mark Schumacher has joined Ingredients Plus as director of strategic commodities sourcing. Mr. Schumacher most recently was senior director of procurement at SunOpta, and earlier was director of global strategic sourcing and risk management at Post Holdings. He spent 10 years at Conagra Brands, Inc. as director of procurement and director of purchasing and graphics. He began his career with Golden Valley Microwave Foods, holding a variety of roles as a senior manager, buyer, schedular, supervisor and plant accountant. He received a bachelor’s degree in management and communications at Concordia University — St. Paul. 

Ross Baker has been promoted to manager of the Conveyance Group at Reading Bakery Systems, Robesonia, Pa. Mr. Baker most recently was a mechanical designer at RBS for the past eight years. He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Penn State University. 

Summer Steeples has been named R&D manager for protein toppings and ingredients at Cargill. Ms. Steeples has been with Cargill for more than five years, most recently as R&D senior supervisor for alternative protein. She also has worked as a senior scientist for both alternative protein and protein foodservice. Prior to Cargill she spent more than seven years at Kerry as a R&D scientist, R&D technologist and QA supervisor. Ms. Steeples received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and master’s degree in grain science, both from Kansas State University. 

Alicia Peirce Kasch has been named vice president of Ribus Inc., a St. Louis-based producer of plant-based non-GMO, natural, organic, vegan and gluten-free ingredients for the food, beverage, pet and dietary supplement companies. Ribus was founded in 1992 by Ms. Kasch’s father, Steve Peirce, and her grandfather, Jim Peirce, along with food scientist Neal Hammond. Ms. Kasch has been with Ribus for more than five years, most recently as global account manager and earlier as international account manager. Prior to Ribus she was digital project manager at Nestle Purina North America. She also has worked at HLK, Schupp Co., Group360, 4ORCE Digital, Rivet Global and Kreglinger Europe NV. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri — Columbia. 

Ian Lady has been promoted to assistant vice president of operations at More Than A Bakery, Versailles, Ky. He most recently was director of operations at the cookies, crackers, crumbs and inclusions company for the past four years. He also was an operations manager for a year and a half. Prior to More Than A Bakery he was a project engineer at Richmond Baking Co. He received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering technology at Purdue University. 

Carlos Bakos has been named vice president MSC Clif Bar at Mondelez International, Chicago. Mr. Bakos most recently was vice president of operations at Mondelez in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and earlier was director of operations in Chicago. Prior to Mondelez he was plant manager at McCain Foods in Grand Island, Neb. He also has worked as a bakery director at Aryzta in Chicago and a plant operations manager at Kellogg Co. in Chicago. 

Mitch Botts has joined Philadelphia Macaroni Co. as director of regional foodservice business development. Mr. Botts most recently was North American sales manager for foodservice at Hero Export AG. Earlier, he spent more than 14 years at Hero Schweiz AG as a national accounts business development sales manager and director of Hero North America. Prior to Hero he was director of sales and business development ingredients at American Italian Pasta Co. He also has worked as a Western Division sales manager at Zerega Pasta, Eastern sales manager at Bavarian Specialty Foods/HJ Heinz, regional sales manager at Borden Foodservice and territory manager at HJ Heinz. He received a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing at the University of Iowa.