Newport International of St. Petersburg, Fla., has expanded its quality assurance and purchasing department in Asia. As part of the expansion, industry veteran Leonard “Lenny” Minster has joined the company as a director of procurement and quality inspection and is based in Thailand.
Minster is a 30-year industry veteran, with 21 of those years spent abroad. He moved to Thailand around 1990 as a buyer for Kitchens of the Oceans and later started the company’s shrimp plant in Thailand (now operated by Red Chamber Co.). During Minster’s tenure he also provided quality assurance product inspections and was involved in various projects in the region. Most recently, Minster has been in Cambodia bringing a new operation online for a private-equity firm.
Minster is working with Newport’s operations and partnering plants to provide products out of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Newport’s existing overseas team will broaden their ongoing inspection and monitoring operations with partnering facilities in China, Latin America and other areas of the globe. Anish Chaudhuri, quality assurance manager, continues to head the company’s U.S. inspection program.
