The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has made one major hire and is nearing another, according to executive director Alexa Tonkovich.
ASMI recently hired Victoria Parr to be its director of domestic marketing, a position Tonkovich recently created by consolidating ASMI’s foodservice marketing and retail marketing positions.
Park will be responsible for all foodservice and retail marketing programs in the United States, according to Tonkovich. ASMI annually spends around USD 2 million (EUR 1.9 million) each for foodservice and retail marketing, giving Parr discretion over a budget of approximately USD 4 million (EUR 3.8 million).
Parr, a Washington native, will be based in ASMI’s Seattle office. Previously, she worked as marketing manager at Coast Produce in Los Angeles, and prior to that, she worked as branding and marketing director at Petaluma Creamery, a cheese, ice cream and specialty food store in Petaluma, California.
“Victoria brings significant experience to the job, as she’s done marketing and branding with a number of food and beverage products,” Tonkovich said. “We expect our programs will continue to run effectively, as they have been with our in-store promotions, and with foodservice, both our high-end and mid-range product promotions. We are hopeful that she’ll take a fresh look at some of our materials and branding and bring a new set of eyes to the Alaska Seafood brand.”
Separately, Tonkovich said ASMI is conducting interviews this week to fill the communications director position recently vacated by Tyson Fick, who became the executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers earlier this month. The communications position will continue to be based in Juneau, Alaska, Tonkovich said.
“We had a very strong applicant pool and we’re optimistic we’ll get a good person to fill that role as well,” Tonkovich said.
