John Zimmerman
External Robert B Wegman Endowed Director of Food and Supply Chain
Phone: (716) 286-8700
CV:
Website:
Biography
John is a passionate advocate for bringing participants into this vast and dynamic Food Industry. Opportunities are boundless and offer individuals tremendous opportunities for professional, personal, and financial growth. As a participating member of the Niagara University Food Advisory Board since its inception, John believes in the endless opportunities that exist in all facets of the $1.8 Trillion dollar Food Industry, whether in Marketing, Supply Chain (including procurement, logistics, warehouse, and demand planning), Culinary, Sales, Customer Engagement, Research & Development, Data Analytics, and other disciplines that drive the food industry.
John is a 45 year veteran of the Food Industry. He began his career with Oscar Mayer as a Sale Representative covering the Consumer Products, Foodservice, and Deli channels for 9 years. In 1990, he entered the food broker industry when he became a partner at Militello Food Brokerage, representing companies like Hormel, Stanislaus, J&J Snacks, and many others for nearly 10 years. They serviced Foodservice Manufacturers, Distributors and Operator customer segments providing administrative, sales and strategic expertise.
John began his career with Rosina Food Products in 1998 as a Regional Sales Manager, and over the 26 years with Rosina grew his scope of responsibilities to the level of Senior Vice President – Business Development and a member of the Executive Committee. His responsibilities over the time with Rosina involved managing and overseeing the Sales, Marketing, Research & Development, Culinary, Supply Chain (logistics, warehouse, demand planning, procurement) and Customer Engagement Departments. John engaged not only with key customer groups such as Wegmans, Tops, Walmart, Aldi, Sysco, US Foodservice, Darden; he also managed Rosina’s international business, including countries like Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. During his time at Rosina, John also became involved with the Niagara University Food Marketing Advisory Board. John has recently been appointed the Robert B. Wegman Endowed External Director of Food Industry Excellence, focusing on student admissions to the new Food Systems program and industry outreach.
John lives in West Seneca, NY with his wife Debbie of 43 years. He has four children and six grandchildren.