Rich Wolverton, who previously confirmed he is leaving his position as executive vice president of sales for Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.-based Peter Pan Seafoods this month, is doing so on amicable terms, he told SeafoodSource.
When Wolverton started the job at Peter Pan, he agreed that he would temporarily work at Peter Pan’s office in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., then work remotely from his home in Santa Rosa, California, after salmon season finished, Wolverton told SeafoodSource.
However, after working at Peter Pan since April, Wolverton realized he would need to work in person at the company.
“Peter Pan has been around for about 120 years. New management [in the past two years] means a lot of change, so it’s almost like a start-up. With Barry Collier, along with others, moving on, you have this loss of institutional memory. You have to figure out how to do things all over again,” Wolverton said. “There is a lot of work to do, and it’s hard to do remotely. I’m a hands-on person.”
Besides, he said, I “need to be back home with the grandkids.”
Wolverton said, for his next professional step, he is going back to his roots by reopening his consulting firm for food manufacturers. Wolverton operated Grow Foodservice before taking his job at Peter Pan.
“I have it in my heart to help people. I did supplier outreach for US Foods’ diversity program, and saw a real need for someone to do it,” Wolverton said.
Suppliers in multiple categories, from rice to seafood to dry grocery items, have already contacted Wolverton to inquire about his services, as many food suppliers starting out simply don’t know how to get their products into the foodservice channel, he said. Wolverton said he is leaning on his previous work experience in the seafood, cheese, and disposables departments of broadliner Food Services of America as an aid to delivering help to his clients.
“I’m taking what I learned from peers at FSA [and elsewhere] and putting together in a package to help suppliers with what they need…to get into foodservice distribution,” Wolverton said.
Wolverton said he wishes Peter Pan the best.
“They are very customer-centric, which is where my heart is,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Reeco
