FMI adds to supply chain, SQFI teams

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has hired Marjorie DePuy as senior director for supply chain and sustainability and Gigi Vita as vice president of sales for its Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) division.

FMI said yesterday that DePuy will help elevate the organization’s work in the areas of supply chain and sustainability by fostering stronger, more collaborative relations between retailers and suppliers. 

DePuy (left) brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit and association program management, as well as in the food industry. She previously served as vice president of industry relations and education at the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, the trade group for pharmaceutical and health care product distributors and wholesalers. DePuy started her career at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, where she designed and programmed the Future of Food Symposium and coordinated strategic planning, serving as a primary liaison to several member committees.

“DePuy brings a hands-on awareness of both the individual challenges and opportunities, along with the synergy existing between supply chain and sustainability issues,” Mark Baum, senior vice president for industry relations and chief collaboration officer at FMI, said in a statement. “Her background in consumer packaged good companies and her practical experience in building collaborative business relationships will make her a strong solutions-based leader in both of these critical operational areas for the food retail community.”

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In her role at SQFI, Vita will manage the sales division and help deepen the unit’s global presence, according to FMI.

Most recently, Vita (left) has led strategic business development and innovation for the nation’s largest dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). Before that, she served as the president and chief operating officer at Fonterra North America, overseeing a $1 billion ingredients and commodity business for the U.S., Canada, Caribbean and Central America.

Vita also spent more than eight years at PepsiCo in several leadership roles and served in leadership posts at other major CPG companies, including Coca-Cola, Kraft/Nabisco, Campbell Soup, Nestle and Procter & Gamble.

“Vita is an accomplished, versatile sales and business expert whose passion for operational and customer opportunities will bring new levels of awareness to the SQFI brand and strengthen our voice so it resounds around the globe,” stated Robert Garfield, chief food safety assessment officer and senior vice president at SQFI. 

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