Ralph Hayes elected President and Chief Executive Officer, Linda R. Hawkinson elected Vice President of Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. LABELLE, Florida, September 2010 — Natural Citrus Products Corporation announced today the election of Ralph Hayes as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Hayes began his career in 1977 as engineering manager for Tropicana. Ten years later he joined FMC Food Technology, which builds and supplies citrus machinery and equipment. In 1995, he was named Vice President of Operations for Golden Gem Growers. In 2002, Hayes returned to FMC as a Senior Account manager. In 2005, Hayes was named General Manager of Duda’s Citrus Belle juice processing operation a position he held until 2008 when he was appointed Division Vice President of Duda’s Citrus Belle operation in LaBelle, Florida and their vegetable processing operations in Thomasville, Ga. Mr. Hayes served for several years as a Board Member of the Florida Citrus Processor’s Association. Mr. Hayes holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Business Management.
The company also announced the election of Linda R. Hawkinson as Vice President of Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs. Hawkinson has spent more than 24 years in the food safety, quality control and regulatory industry with a wide array of positions. Hawkinson began her career in 1986 as a Quality Control Supervisor, Central Laboratory Supervisor and Quality Control Laboratory Technician for Milk Specialties Company. From there, Hawkinson advanced to positions of increased responsibility with Slim Fast Foods Company, Chiquita Brands, Inc., FMC Corporation, American Purpac Technologies, Beasley Food Safety Consulting and Whitlock Packaging. Most recently, Hawkinson served as the Quality Assurance and Food Safety Manager, Processed Products Division for Duda Products, Inc. Hawkinson holds a Master of Science in Food Science from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Biology.
In announcing the appointments, company Founder, Robert A. Jones explains, “When I founded the company in April 2007, it was the culmination of my 33 year quest to bring my experience in food engineering, process development and research and development to the citrus industry. In providing the developmental and engineering expertise to build the first citrus peel processing plant to generate food grade products from citrus peel materials we entered new and unknown territory”. “Now, after validating our patents and completing our full production runs we are now ready to enter into the next and most exciting phase of our growth”, states Jones. “Ralph Hayes brings enormous experience and a tremendous reputation for excellence to Natural Citrus Products Corporation”, states Jones. “I have known Ralph for many years and could think of no better leader for our company”. “I am also very excited to have Linda Hawkinson joining our team”, Jones continued, “She brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the critical food safety, quality control and regulatory areas”. “As a result of Ralph and Linda assuming these critical roles in our company, I will be able to focus on intellectual property innovations and engineering improvements which will allow our company to maintain its competitive edge”.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. David L. Sadler, adds, “Natural Citrus Products Corporation owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Robert Jones for bringing our company from the “conceptual“ stage to our current point of true viability. The outstanding technical expertise that Robert has provided the company since its launch in 2007 is the single most significant aspect of our success.” “Robert has worked tirelessly and has sacrificed much”, continues Sadler. “The addition of Ralph Hayes and Linda Hawkinson to our team will finally allow Robert to have the time to focus on the advancement of the technologies which he has so ably developed”. “Robert will continue his critical role in the company under the newly created position of “Founder” and “Chief Technology Officer”.
Natural Citrus Products Corporation was developed to implement and commercialize unique technologies associated with the processing of fruits, vegetables and other organic biomass (waste). The valuable extracts which can be mined by Natural Citrus Products Corporation’s technologies have immediate commercial value in a variety of identified industries. Additionally, the Natural Citrus Products Corporation process enhances the environment by reducing and/or eliminating toxic pollutants associated with this waste material. Prior to the introduction of the Natural Citrus Products Corporation processes, conventional methods of eliminating plant waste by-products involved burning or landfill dumping which are extremely harmful to the environment. Additional processes have been introduced, such as cattle feed peel pellets, which are more costly to produce than their commercial resale value.
For more information contact:
Ed Sample, (214) 906-3641
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