The board of directors of Orion Food Systems, the foodservice provider of leading brands such as Hot Stuff and Lettieri’s, has announced the appointment of Henry J. (Hank) Suerth as Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Suerth brings more than 40 years of experience in a variety of industries, including over 20 years at the President/CEO and other senior management level positions in food & beverage, consulting, home furnishing and consumer electronics. He was most recently Senior Vice President of Commercial Businesses for Caribou Coffee Company Inc. since April 2009, where he led Caribou’s fastest growing segment including Foodservice, Retail Licensing locations and Consumer Products.
Suerth served as Senior Vice President, Business Alliances for the Starbucks Coffee Company from 2001-2005, and was also responsible for Starbucks’ Licensing, Foodservice, and Consumer Products programs in North America. This included partnership ventures with Pepsi for ready to drink (RTD) beverages, Kraft for Grocery and Club channel packaged coffee, Dreyer’s Starbucks branded super premium ice cream and the launch of Starbucks Coffee Liqueur with Beam Global Spirits and Wine. Mr. Suerth also managed his own privately held management consulting company from 1986 – 1992.
Suerth has an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and a B.S. in Industrial Management from Purdue University. In addition, to business leadership roles, Suerth served as Purdue University’s Krannert Graduate School of Management’s Director of Executive Education from 2005 – 2009, and was the University’s first Entrepreneur in Residence at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. He also served as Krannert’s Director of Corporate and Alumni Relations and is a member of Purdue University Athletic Director’s Advisory Council. Suerth has served as a Director of The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals Inc., and has been a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
“The Orion team has accomplished a great deal over the past 18 months,” Suerth said. “Everyone’s hard work, dedication, and professionalism are evident. My job is to continue to build upon the achievements of the Orion team, and leverage these accomplishments to accelerate the company’s top line and bottom line growth across all our sales channels. Ultimately, by working together as a team, we will create opportunities for the benefit of our most valuable resources, our employees and franchisees.”
Orion franchises and licenses Hot Stuff Foods concepts in more than 1,000 locations throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, and also offers Lettieri’s Food To Go through distributors across the U.S.