Our Story
“If you look at our history, being a vehicle for the greater good has been the ethos of this company.”
– Brian Griffith, Owner and Executive Chairman
Action follows purpose. Collaboration leads to innovation. And more often than not, the future you can envision is the future you can make a reality. This was certainly true in 1919 when Enoch Luther (E.L.) Griffith, a Chicago salesman, and his son Carroll Ladd (C.L.) Griffith, a pharmacologist, took the first bold steps toward improving America’s food industry. The Griffiths’ aim was to introduce food science to the food industry. Why? Because they believed they could improve food safety while creating healthier, better-tasting food.
Fast forward four generations and a century later, and it’s the same purpose-driven approach that continues to guide Griffith Foods today, and for the next 100 years
Our Founding
At a time when the nation’s food supply couldn’t be trusted, Enoch Luther (E.L.) Griffith and Carroll Ladd (C.L.) Griffith recognized the need to introduce food science to the food industry through personal customer relationships. Thus began the storefront start of the company at 429 W. 79th Street in Chicago.
North American Growth
On May 14, 1929, Griffith’s first company outside of the United States was established in Toronto under the leadership of E.L. Griffith’s nephews, Maurice and Luther Rector. Griffith introduces specialty flours, liquid seasonings, and imports German Prague Salt, which dramatically reduced the required curing times for ham, bacon, and sausage.
Product Development
Working to create safer, healthier and better-tasting food, Griffith utilized innovative technologies and processes to enhance the taste and safety of food products while reducing cost and speeding up production – developing Prague Powder “The Safe Fast Cure”, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, an essential and affordable building block of flavor, antioxidant seasonings and more.
Going Global
Then, as now, Griffith grew by helping its customers grow – expanding its product line and services with ingredients and technology made to assure dependable flavor, texture, and quality. E.L.’s grandson, Dean L. Griffith joins the company and pioneers a global spirit to adapt and meet the needs of the cultures we serve.
Increasing Innovation
Following new operations in South America, Europe, and Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, Dean Griffith restructured the company in 1978 to preserve its global footprint. Further pushes for improvement involved collaboration between culinary teams and food scientists, allowing Griffith to expand within the food industry.
Unit Paks offer processors and foodservice operations optimized batching and back-of-house efficiencies. Griffith Foods introduces HVP flavor extensions, Flava Glaze for BBQ, authentic liquid blends, and unique coating systems with increased durability and functionality in baked and fried applications.
Purposeful Evolution
By acquiring new companies and further developing its core capabilities, the company blended together diverse approaches and points of view to help customers grow. Griffith acquired Custom Culinary® in 1991 to expand its soup, base, sauce, and gravy offerings.
Two new, state-of-the-art Culinary Centers are opened at the Alsip headquarters and in Europe to provide customers with additional product development resources. New facilities are built in Brazil, Southern China, and South Korea.
Built for Success
Griffith’s sustainability platform has been a key driver of change looking toward the future.
By following the four strategic thrusts – shared value, leverage technology, partner ecosystems, and health and nutrition – a positive impact has been made through endeavors like the Griffith Sustainably Sourced (GSS) program and clean-label products. These initiatives are both a validation of Griffith Foods’ past successes and an essential step in our continuing push to blend care and creativity to nourish the world.
Griffith Foods acquires a liquids facility focused on the production of sauces and soups. New manufacturing units are built in Mexico, India, and Northern China. Additional culinary centers are constructed within targeted facilities throughout the world. In 2019, the company launches TEROVA™, a supplier of sustainably sourced and superior spices, herbs, botanicals, and innovative ingredients, in order to scale sustainable sourcing efforts.
A New Era
Today, the world is Griffith Foods’ market. Its central pursuit builds on its legacy of blending care and creativity to nourish the world. Countless global partners rely on the company for seasonings, spices, coatings, sauces, and more, while its sustainability efforts support local and regional food ecosystems around the world.
Our Values
Born from our purpose, our values are at the heart of everything we do.
Make the Future Better
We are optimistic and courageous while making choices in pursuit of our dreams. Sustainability informs our curiosity, imagination, and innovation. We are passionate about leaving our planet a better place for future generations. We believe the best is yet to come.
Work Together Globally
We recognize our diversity creates a unique strength, and we learn from our colleagues and partners globally. By collaborating, communicating, sharing, and learning, we create better together.
Behave like Owners
We are passionate about creating long-term value. We believe that we are part of something bigger than ourselves and strive to make a difference. We trust each other and treat talent as a valuable resource. We believe in strategic risk-taking and in doing the right thing, especially when it is hard to do.
Build Customer Success
Recognizing that our success depends on our customers’ success, we work to create value and ensure success by understanding, anticipating and prioritizing customer needs. We build a mutual commitment to derive sustainable long-term value.
Deliver Results
We take personal responsibility for meeting our commitments. We are focused on achieving objectives aligned to our triple bottom line of people, planet, and performance. We execute with excellence, measure results, and reward success.
Act like Family
We are a caring family company where everyone has the opportunity to grow, follow their own personal “Purpose” and find fulfillment in their work. We support each other and demonstrate mutual respect. We nourish people’s well-being – physical, mental, and financial.
Our Family of Companies
Griffith Foods is a global product development partner specializing in food ingredients from seasoning and sauces to breadings, coatings, flavors, bakery products, and more.
Custom Culinary® specializes in providing foodservice and food processing professionals with real, authentic branded and proprietary culinary flavor systems.
TEROVA serves modern society with premium, sustainable ingredients, and products grown with a farmer first approach and full traceability.
Nourish Ventures is a strategic partner to new ventures, accelerating their ability to scale and grow, focused on creating the food system of the future – delicious, nutritious, sustainable.
Joint Ventures
Join Our Family
When you join Griffith Foods, you are not only joining our family, you are joining a community of change-makers. Learn more about our employee experience. At Griffith Foods, you are encouraged and empowered to make meaningful contributions and discover innovative solutions. Learn more about our career opportunities and join us on our journey to nourish the world.
Our Leadership
We believe in leading by example. Connected by a shared purpose, our leaders are committed to the well-being of every Griffith Foods employee, while maintaining responsible stewardship of the People, Planet, and Performance.
Brian Griffith
Executive ChairmanBrian Griffith is the Executive Chairman of Griffith Foods, marking the fourth generation of his family to lead the company. Griffith Foods is a purpose-driven, family-owned global developer and maker of customized food recipes for food service restaurants, protein and snack companies. Griffith Foods has a unique combination of capabilities in the form of Insights, Culinary, Food, and Sensory Science that translate into some of the world’s most loved seasoning, coating and sauce recipes blended to exacting specifications that are culturally authentic and taste great. Founded in 1919, Griffith has grown and expanded globally to include a presence in over thirty countries.
Brian has a deep and fundamental belief in “business as a force for good” and therefore organized the company to drive further impact through Griffith’s Triple Bottom-line sustainability platform of People, Planet & Performance across all business units worldwide. Our Purpose at Griffith Foods is “We Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World….which means as a purpose-powered organization, we are focused on the integration of their Purpose, Values and Sustainability platform actioned through strategy & innovation to deliver positive change and impact that is good for people (all stakeholders) and the planet.
We play at the intersection of Sustainable Agricultural Systems and Health & Nutrition…”Better for You, Better for the Planet.”
TC Chatterjee
Chief Executive OfficerTC Chatterjee was named Chief Executive Officer in 2016. Before becoming CEO, TC held positions as Chief Operating Officer, as well as Group President across some of Griffith’s fastest-growing regions, including Central and South America, Asia Pacific, and India – Middle East, as well as Custom Culinary, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Griffith Foods™.
“Griffith’s global footprint and our ability to add value to our customers and their customers through our expertise and experience in food science, culinary arts, sensory and consumer insight help us offer a range of capabilities to enable our customers’ growth and innovation. We are proud of our ability to provide these locally as well as globally.”
Matt West
Executive Vice President and CFOMatt West joined Griffith Foods in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer following a 27-year Finance career in global food and consumer products companies. Matt leads the planning and strategy for Griffith’s financial performance as well as the company’s funding and investment strategies.
“At Griffith Foods™, we operate in numerous countries that each have strong opportunities to grow our business. Our cash flow and capital investments are the fuel for our growth,” Matt said. “In Finance, we balance the reinvestment of company profits with funding from our financial partners to support the best business opportunities around the world. My team and I put it all together.”
Wim van Roekel
President, North AmericaWim van Roekel joined Griffith Foods in 2017 after spending 21 years with global food ingredients companies across the globe. Wim currently leads the North American business, having previously led the Griffith Foods European team for 4 years.
“Agility and continuous differentiation are critically important for complex business in North America. By living our purpose, we enjoy the daily challenge of supporting our customers in the exciting North American marketplace. Our team provides creative culinary solutions through close collaborations with partners and customers in our value chain, adding value to their businesses. I’m both proud and passionate about the role Griffith Foods plays in that arena.”
Oscar Lizarazu
President, Central & South AmericaAs an organizational leader with a food science background, Oscar intimately understands the customer’s development challenges. He uses his unique perspective to ensure his team is meeting specific customer needs at every level.
President of the Central and South America group since 2007, Oscar makes a point to regularly meet with customers. “I like to talk one-to-one with customers so I personally hear and understand their ideas and challenges,” he says. “It helps our team focus on how we can best bring critical value to their products – to increase their profits, improve customer satisfaction, and create real market advantages.”
Filip De Reymaeker
President, Europe & AfricaFilip is an entrepreneurial and business builder with a proven track record of driving strong profitable growth in the food and beverage industry across four continents. In addition to his successful progressive leadership roles in commercial operations and general management, Filip has strong passion for innovation and sustainability which is invaluable in leading the European organization on the next steps of our journey toward our 2030 Aspirations, in service of our Purpose.
Kandarp Singh
President, Asia PacificKandarp brings more than thirty years of experience in Food & Beverage Processing, Packaging, and Consumer Packaged Goods [CPG]. He has experience operating in progressive global, regional, and country leadership roles across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East.
Throughout his career, Kandarp has demonstrated expertise and leadership in roles driving profitable growth, strategy, innovation and capability. He is also passionate about customer centricity, talent development and sustainability.
Jim Thorne
President, Nourish Ventures and Senior Vice President, Partnerships & StrategyJim Thorne is currently President of Nourish Ventures and Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy for Griffith Foods Worldwide Inc. based in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to the leadership role, Jim was the Vice President, General Manager for Griffith Foods Canada from November 2014 to October 2017, and Senior Vice President of Global Strategy and Marketing for Griffith Foods Worldwide Inc. from October 2017 to October 2020.
Jim has over 30 years of experience in the food industry. With an MBA from Queen’s University Canada, Jim has worked for Nabisco, Campbell Soup, and Maple Leaf Foods in a variety of marketing, sales, and general management leadership roles. Prior to joining Griffith Foods in 2014, Jim was President and CEO of Marsan Foods based in Toronto Canada.
Ben Wexler
President, Custom Culinary®Ben joined the Griffith Foods family in 2018 as President, Custom Culinary, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Griffith Foods. Ben came from Danone North America where he was General Manager of the their Foodservice and Convenience Store Channels. Prior to that he worked in various Marketing and Sales leadership roles at multiple consumer product companies including WhiteWave Foods, Kellogg’s, and Quaker Oats. Ben received his MBA from Northwestern University, and studied for his Bachelor’s degree at Wake Forest University.
Henry Artalejo
Senior Vice President, Global Human ResourcesHenry Artalejo is Griffith Foods’ Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources, a position he assumed in July 2019. He is responsible for leading the strategic, analytical, and tactical aspects of the people function globally. This position plays a pivotal role in enabling the execution of Griffith Foods’ Purpose-driven strategy through and with people throughout the organization.
Henry brings twenty-five years of leadership experience in global human resources with leading companies including Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Sara Lee (based in Utrecht, Netherlands), Diesel, and Godiva. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Human Resources, North America for Ingredion Incorporated.
In addition to a breadth of generalist HR leadership, Henry brings specialist depth in talent management, learning & development, and diversity & inclusion. He also speaks fluent Spanish.
Henry holds a master’s degree in business administration from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Management, in Chicago, Illinois, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dave Bender
Global Vice President of Research & DevelopmentDave Bender is the Global Vice President of Research & Development at Griffith Foods. Dave currently oversees 340+ Research & Development Associates globally and oversees the strategic direction and implementation of the company’s innovation and research and development initiatives.
Prior to assuming this position, he served as Griffith Foods Canada’s Vice President of Research & Development and co-led the creation of Griffith Foods’ Global Innovation Council.
Dave joined the organization in 1997 and has held various roles in the commercial organization, including Vice President of Sales before managing research and development activities.
Dave’s previous experiences include progressive management roles at DuPont Canada, Morrison Lamothe Fine Foods, and Cuddy Food Products. Dave graduated with a MSc. in Marketing Management from the University of Guelph and holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Food Science.
Kim Frankovich
Global Vice President, SustainabilityKim Frankovich is Global Vice President, Sustainability for Griffith Foods Worldwide Inc., joining in May 2022. Kim has over 15 years of experience in sustainability in the food and packaging industry. Most recently as Global Vice President, Cocoa Sustainability for Mars Wrigley where she was responsible for developing the cocoa sustainability strategy and operational plan for the Cocoa for Generations program with a focus on preserving forests, addressing human rights, and improving farmer incomes. Prior to that she led sustainability globally for Wrigley from 2013 to 2017, and for Solo Cup Company, a single use packaging company, from 2005 to 2013. Kim received her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in South Bend, IN and a B.S. in Economics from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT.
Greg Metschke
Global Vice President, Purchasing and Sustainable SourcingGreg Metschke, Global Vice President, Purchasing and Sustainable Sourcing originally joined the Griffith Foods team in 2007. Prior to the Global role, he held the positions of Vice President, North America Purchasing and Director of Purchasing for the Griffith Foods US business.
Greg has 20 years of experience in the food industry. With an Accounting degree from the University of Nebraska, Greg has experience as a commodity trader with Farmland Industries in Kansas City, MO and purchasing experience in a retail and CPG environment with Safeway, based in Pleasanton, CA and Heinz based in Pittsburg, PA.
Rob Pellicano
Global Vice President, MarketingRob Pellicano is the Global Vice President of Marketing for Griffith Foods Worldwide Inc. Core to Rob’s role is to further develop Griffith Foods’ global Marketing capabilities with a particular focus on segment strategy development and activation, the elevation of insight capabilities, and to enhance the Griffith Foods’ brand with its customers and partners. Rob is also an active member of the Griffith Foods’ Global Innovation Council where he leads Marketing and Communication related efforts for our innovation strategy across all areas of our business.
Most recently, Rob served as Vice President of Global Marketing for Griffith Foods. Rob joined the organization in 2007 and has held various positions, including Senior Director of Marketing for Custom Culinary®, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Griffith Foods.
Rob has over 25 years of experience in the food industry including over 11 years within Unilever’s Foodservice division prior to joining Custom Culinary®. Rob has an undergraduate degree in Marketing from West Virginia University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.
Matt Vieceli
Senior Vice President, Global Business DevelopmentMatt Vieceli is currently Senior Vice President, Global Business Development for Griffith Foods Worldwide Inc. Matt has held various roles over 14 years with Griffith Foods. Prior to leadership role, Matt was the Vice President, Global Accounts from May 2014 to June 2018.
Matt has over 26 years experience in the food industry. With a BS in Food Science and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska, Matt has worked for Wisconsin Cheese, Northland Laboratories, Dean Foods, and Tate & Lyle in a variety of Product Development and Commercial Management Leadership roles. Prior to rejoining Griffith Foods in 2014, Matt was Vice President, Global Enterprise Accounts for Tate & Lyle.
Bill Wolsky
Vice President, Global Supply ChainBill Wolsky is currently Vice President, Global Supply Chain for Griffith Foods Worldwide Inc. based in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to this leadership role, Bill was the Vice President of Global Operations for Nestle and has over 30 years of experience in the food industry. Bill has worked in a variety of manufacturing, logistics, operational and general management leadership roles and has an executive degree in Business from the IMD Business school, and undergraduate degrees from the University of the Pacific in California.
Board of Directors
Our board of directors comes from rich, diverse backgrounds that lend well to Griffith Foods’ Purpose. We are proud to have this dynamic group of leaders usher us into the next century of purpose-driven business.
Brian Griffith
Executive ChairmanBrian Griffith is the Executive Chairman of Griffith Foods, marking the fourth generation of his family to lead the company. Griffith Foods is a purpose-driven, family-owned global developer and maker of customized food recipes for food service restaurants, protein and snack companies. Griffith Foods has a unique combination of capabilities in the form of Insights, Culinary, Food, and Sensory Science that translate into some of the world’s most loved seasoning, coating and sauce recipes blended to exacting specifications that are culturally authentic and taste great. Founded in 1919, Griffith has grown and expanded globally to include a presence in over thirty countries.
Brian has a deep and fundamental belief in “business as a force for good” and therefore organized the company to drive further impact through Griffith’s Triple Bottom-line sustainability platform of People, Planet & Performance across all business units worldwide. Our Purpose at Griffith Foods is “We Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World….which means as a purpose-powered organization, we are focused on the integration of their Purpose, Values and Sustainability platform actioned through strategy & innovation to deliver positive change and impact that is good for people (all stakeholders) and the planet.
We play at the intersection of Sustainable Agricultural Systems and Health & Nutrition…”Better for You, Better for the Planet.”
Jose-Luis Bretones
Board MemberJose-Luis Bretones founded LINAR Advisors in 2015, a boutique consulting practice with a focus on global supply chain operations, and currently serves as managing partner after more than 20 years working across several industries around the world.
His experience includes leadership roles in supply chain with McDonald’s, Lucent Technologies, and Castle Metals before founding LINAR Advisors.
Jose-Luis grew up in Spain, relocated to the United States in 1998, and currently lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters. He holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSII) and an MBA degree obtained while on assignment with Lucent Technologies in Oklahoma. He earned numerous professional accreditations from Kellogg School of Management (USA), INSEAD School of Management (France), Goldratt Institute (Spain), and APICS.
Dean Carter
Board MemberMr. Dean E. Carter has been Vice President of Human Resources & Shared Services at Patagonia, Inc. since May 2015. Mr. Carter provides strategic leadership and direction of Patagonia’s global human resources, finance, and legal teams and is charged with developing initiatives to support Patagonia’s nearly 2,000 employees worldwide in carrying out its mission.
Prior to joining Patagonia, he served as the Chief Human Resources Officer and Vice President of Talent & Human Capital Services at Sears Holdings Corporation and has supported more than 220,000 employees in the United States and Asia and partnered directly with more than 30 Business Unit Presidents. In 2013, he was awarded the Top 10 Breakaway HR Leaders by the Global HR Summit. He has a BS in speech/organizational communication from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Workforce Science Fellow of Northwest University School of Law in Chicago.
Sonia Lo
Board MemberSonia Lo is the Chief Executive Officer of Crop One Holdings. She is also the Founder and Managing Director of Chalsys LLP, an advisory and direct investment firm that has invested over $120 million in 15 global growth-stage companies. Prior to Chalsys, Ms. Lo was co-founder and CEO of eZoka Group, a UK-based internet startup that was sold in 2002. Ms. Lo is a former Director of Global Content for Google.
She was appointed one of the Global 100 Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum in 2000 and 2001 and named one of Management Today’s leading 35 businesswomen in the UK under the age of 35.
Ms. Lo earned her BA in Political Science from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University. She holds Professional Chef and Pastry Qualifications from London and City College and completed certifications in Green Supply Chain Management and Zero Energy Architecture.
Joseph Maslick
Board MemberMr. Maslick joined Griffith Foods in 1970 and was quickly promoted to management positions in the USA and then in Corporate finance. In 1988, he was elected Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In 1990 he was elected Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Griffith Foods until his retirement.
Mr. Maslick holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from the DePaul University of Chicago. He has served as a Board Member of Illinois Special Olympics, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Greater Phoenix Area, and is active with the Mayo Clinic Foundation in Arizona, raising funds for its cancer research activities.
Mary Wagner
Board MemberMary K. Wagner is a recognized executive leader and board director with a reputation for creating innovative products, managing risks, handling corporate crises, and managing food quality and safety. She is a strategist, an operational leader, and a team builder who has been an executive in branded global retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. She has created growth through consumer-facing innovation and brand building.
Mary holds a Professional Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors (ACCD) and is a Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). She is a member of Women Corporate Directors, as well as a Belizean Grove member. Mary is a graduate of Harvard’s Program for Management Development (PMD), and a participant in the Kellogg Family Governance program. She has a BS and MS from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
Global Sustainability Advisory Council
The council includes four distinguished leaders, each bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to our organization. With backgrounds in business, academia, NGOs and beyond, they provide different perspectives and new insights to our sustainability work, as we strive to sustainably build and grow our business.
Stuart Hart
SAC MemberStuart Hart is founder of Enterprise for a Sustainable World, a nonprofit that works with businesses on sustainability and strategy. A leading global authority in his field, Stuart is the Co-Founder of the Sustainable Innovation MBA Program at the University of Vermont and the S.C. Johnson Chair Emeritus of Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell’s Johnson School of Management and founder of the school’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise.
Jane Nelson
SAC MemberJane Nelson is director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard’s Kennedy School and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. Her background includes leadership and advisory roles with companies and organizations such as the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, World Economic Forum, UN Global Compact and World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Don Seville
SAC MemberDon Seville is executive director of Sustainable Food Lab, which brings together companies, NGOs and other stakeholders to build more sustainable food systems. Don leads the organization’s Sustainable Livelihoods initiative to connect small-scale producers to modern markets. In 1997, Don helped found a cooperative farm village in Hartland, Vermont.
Simon Winter
SAC MemberSimon Winter is executive director of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. The foundation helps small farmers invest in technologies and practices to improve their agriculture, livelihoods and resilience. Prior to 2017, Simon was senior VP of development at TechnoServe, an international nonprofit advancing business solutions to poverty.
Partnerships and Ecosystem
