Judith Spires Formally Re-elected NJFC Chair

Judith Spires, CEO of Parsippany, N.J.-based Kings Super Markets Inc., was re-elected chair of the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC), at the association’s Annual Membership Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 28 at the Forsgate Country Club, in Monroe Township, N.J.

“It is an honor to be elected to serve a third and final year as the Chair of the New Jersey Food Council,” said Spires.  “We have accomplished much together over the last two years, and I look forward to continuing to grow the Food Council and position it for the future.”

“We have experienced great momentum with Judy Spires as chair,” added NJFC President Linda Doherty.  “The board of directors is energized, and we are planning for another productive year.  We recently hosted a strategic planning session under Judy’s leadership, and we look forward to working with members on several new initiatives that will be implemented in the coming year.”

Joining Spires as association officers are Vice Chairman Richard Saker, of Saker ShopRites; Associate Vice Chairman Joe McCarthy, of Bimbo Bakeries USA; Treasurer Michael Rothwell, of Pennington Quality Markets; Secretary Michael Murphy, of QuickChek Corp.; and Doherty.

At the meeting, NJFC members also elected the 2016 board of directors.  Representing the retail membership are Dan Croce, of Acme Markets; Rafael Cuellar, of Cuellar, LLC/ShopRite of Passaic; Andrew Kent, of Glass Gardens; David Maniaci, of Nicholas Markets; Frank Mastrangelo, of Supervalu, Eastern Division; James McCaffrey III, of McCaffrey’s Markets; Colleen Meares, of Stop & Shop Supermarkets; Christina Minardi, of Whole Foods Market; Joseph F. Pagano, of Inserra Supermarkets; Jason Ravitz, of Ravitz Family Markets; Peter Rojek, of Fairway Markets; Phil Scaduto, of Food Circus Super Markets; Leonard J. Sitar, of ShopRite of Carteret; Joe Sofia, of Wegmans Food Markets; William Sumas, of Village Supermarkets; John Wachter, of Murphy’s Markets of South Jersey; and Rich Wood, of Wawa.

Representing the associate members are Lisa Angeles, of Kraft Heinz Co.; Jody Avallone, of Nestle USA; Michael Biase, of Mission Foods; Kelly Johnston, of Campbell Soup Co.; Howie Kent, of Krasdale Foods; Rebecca Peifer, of Unilever; Debbie Pregiato, of Advantage Solutions; Michael Sullivan, of Coca-Cola Refreshments USA; Luis Tejada, of Goya Foods; and Ken Weingartner, of C&S Wholesale Grocers.

The organization revealed Spires' pending re-election as chair last month.

Trenton-based NJFC has almost 400 members representing more than 1,200 retail food stores, wholesalers, manufacturers and service companies.