FORT WORTH, Texas — After 36 years of dedicated service to Ben E. Keith Foods, Senior Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics Andy McCaskill is retiring from the 113-year-old foodservice distribution company.
His replacement, Mike Needham, will assume his new role as Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics on July 15, 2019. Stepping into Mr. Needham’s current role as General Manager of the Gulf Coast Division for Ben E. Keith Foods will be Jerry DuBose, who has been that division’s Assistant General Manager since 2014.
“Andy’s grit and wisdom, and bulldog approach to every challenge and opportunity, has helped build Ben E. Keith into a leading Foodservice Distributor,” said Mike Sweet, President, Ben E. Keith Foods. “We wish Andy, and his wife, Lissa, a happy, fulfilling and well-deserved retirement.”
While he has served as Senior Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics since 2011, Mr. McCaskill had previously touched virtually every corner of Ben E. Keith Foods since arriving in the Dallas purchasing department in 1982 after graduating from Texas Tech University. A few of his many roles have included: Director of Grocery, Vice President of Grocery Non-Foods and Vice President of Purchasing.
A Ben E. Keith employee since 1991, Mike Needham has led the Missouri City-based Gulf Coast Division since 2014. Previously, he served in a variety of sales and purchasing managerial positions in the Oklahoma and San Antoniodivisions and was General Manager of the latter from 2008-2014. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
Jerry DuBose joined Ben E. Keith in 1996, as a District Sales Representative in his hometown of College Station. Success in that role led to his promotion to District Sales Manager, and he led a College Station-based team in that capacity until 2009 when he was promoted to Director of Sales Training. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University.
Mike and Jerry exemplify the term “servant leader,” and they have built tremendous careers here because of their commitment to leading by example. Their work ethic and dedication to serving our stakeholders make them worthy successors, and I am confident they will lead their respective teams to even greater heights.
Mr. McCaskill’s retirement becomes effective July 15, 2019.
About Ben E. Keith Foods
Established in Fort Worth, Texas in 1906, Ben E. Keith Foods is the nation’s eighth largest broad line foodservice distributor and operates today with eight divisions shipping to 15 states throughout the country.
