Day-Lee Foods, Inc., one of the leading U.S. producers of high-quality Asian meals and appetizers, today announced the appointment of Kotaro Fujita as general manager, Brian Kim as sales manager, foodservice and private brands, and Kenny Lopez as national key accounts manager. The new hires further bolster the foodservice and club channels as well as company’s private label business, and will be instrumental in developing new growth opportunities for the company.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Kotaro, Brian and Kenny to the Day-Lee Foods team, as their extensive background in food and consumer packaged goods (CPG) will support our vision of making our dishes more accessible to consumers across the country,” said Craig Jaunzemis, director of sales & marketing for Day-Lee Foods. “Their incredible experience, passion and commitment to the brand will help us highlight our unique offerings in the frozen foods and foodservice space, allowing the brand to reach new heights.”
Fujita joins Day-Lee Foods as general manager and has already helped lead a variety of projects in the Processed Foods Division to enhance productivity and cost efficiency. Through building cohesive teams, Fujita has implemented new procedures supporting better flexibility in production that will ultimately foster future growth.
As for Kim, he steps into the sales manager, foodservice and private brands role at Day-Lee Foods. His vision is clear — to get frozen dishes under newly created private brands into the homes of more families, as well as underscore the high-quality product attributes for foodservice. Kim hopes to provide more delicious options to the freezer aisle and believes that the company’s commitment to quality, taste and convenience is its key differentiator in foodservice. Additionally, Kim will lead Day-Lee Foods’ new partnership with lead broker Acclaim Foodservice, which is now the company’s sole representation in the Southern California region.
Bringing more than 20 years of CPG experience to the table, Lopez joins the Day-Lee Foods team as national key accounts manager. A seasoned sales expert, Lopez has served in various roles at PepsiCo, Dean Foods, Pinnacle Foods and ConAgra Foods as a strategic and tactical leader for various initiatives. With a customer-focused approach and entrepreneurial spirit, Lopez’s goal is increase awareness of the brand’s high production standards, superior quality control and premium ingredients. Lopez is looking forward to leading the Club Channel business and supporting Day-Lee Foods’ partnership with Costco.
Day-Lee Foods products are available under the Crazy Cuizine brand in national, local and Asian grocery stores nationwide, including Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, Albertsons, Vons, Safeway, Mitsuwa Market, Marukai, Tokyo Central, Nijiya Market, 99 Ranch Market, H-Mart and more. For more information about Day-Lee Foods products, please visit www.day-lee.com
About Day-Lee Foods Inc.
Day-Lee Foods, Inc. is one of the leading U.S. producers of high-quality meat products for the restaurant and food service industry, as well as frozen Asian foods for the consumer market. The parent company of Crazy Cuizine and Day-Lee Pride, Day-Lee Foods produces restaurant-quality dishes that offer authenticity, value and convenience. The company’s restaurant-direct portfolio offers a variety of fresh, premium foods including beef, poultry, pork, seafood and produce for fine and specialty restaurants nationwide. All Day-Lee Foods products are manufactured at the company’s state-of-the-art facility, which has earned consecutive gold standard of excellence awards in food safety and quality practices through a third-party auditor.
