Paul Whitaker Joins Wixon as Consumer Products Divisional Leader

Paul Whitaker has been named Consumer Products Divisional Leader for Wixon, a manufacturer of seasonings, flavors, ingredients, and consumer products for the food and beverage industry.

Whitaker will have four direct areas of responsibility.

• Growth of top-line revenue for Wixon’s Consumer Products division through direct sales and business development activities.
• Divisional leadership of the Consumer Products cross-functional team, including staff from the marketing, procurement, logistics, supply chain, finance, product development, and operations departments.
• Management of the day-to-day Consumer Products division, from new product development to customer service and order fulfillment from our dedicated packaging plant.
• Lead in organizing strategic and tactical planning for the Consumer Products division, with input from Wixon’s other cross-functional teams.

“We are excited that Paul has joined the Wixon team and look forward to his insights in the consumer products arena of the food business,” says Chuck Ehemann, Executive Vice President of Sales for Wixon.  “Paul brings a wide breadth of expertise - from sales to marketing to operations planning - which we expect to translate into company growth, greater customer satisfaction, added value, and superior product quality at a competitive price.”

Whitaker has more than 25 years of experience in the food industry with several leading consumer packaged goods manufacturers.  Most recently, he served as Vice President of Sales for Imperial Sugar Company, where he oversaw all commercial business segments including consumer, industrial, foodservice, in addition to operations planning and customer service.  Prior to Imperial, Whitaker spent 18 years at Unilever, where he held a series of positions in brand management, sales planning, and sales with increasing responsibility, leading to the position of  Vice President of Distribution Channels, Foodsolutions North America.  Early in his career, he held sales management positions at Kraft Food Ingredients and Anderson Clayton Foods, a division of Quaker.

Whitaker received his bachelor’s of business administration from the University of North Texas.  He recently relocated to Brookfield, Wis., with his wife Cathy, and their twin sons Jackson and William.  They also have two sons attending college - Bradley, at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas and Daniel, attending DePaul University in Chicago.  In his leisure, Whitaker enjoys spending family time outdoors, fishing, boating, water skiing, and snow skiing.  He has a love of music and playing the drums.

Founded in 1907, Wixon is a fully integrated food and beverage ingredient leader providing flavor technologies, custom-ground spices, blended seasonings, protein expertise, foodservice and menu solutions, and consumer products and packaging.  Wixon’s brand promise of Service Driven Culinary Science gives customers the added benefit of food technology enhanced by the creativity of culinary arts.  With its advanced scientific and culinary capabilities combined with a passion for service, Wixon drives innovation and provides solutions for its customers.  Besides custom flavor formulations, Wixon offers R&D, product development, packaging options, inventory management, and just-in-time delivery.  Located in St. Francis, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee, Wixon is ISO9001 certified and QAI Organic Certified.  More information on Wixon or any of its products may be obtained at www.wixon.com or by calling (414) 769-3000.