KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mark Layco is the new Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) LLC Director of Retail Marketing. Mark joins the CHB LLC team with more than 25 years of retail meat experience.
Most recently, Mark has been working in Houston, Texas, as a meat merchandising and meat/seafood operations specialist for Kroger. He was responsible for the profitability of the meat and seafood department in 109 Kroger supermarkets in the Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth marketplace with annual sales of $550 billion.
Mark started his meat business career in the backroom — cleaning equipment in a Kroger store while putting himself through college at Stephen F. Austin. Over time, he was promoted within Kroger transitioning to a trained meat cutter, then store market manager, to manager of several store meat markets. Eventually, he was promoted to merchandising specialist of Kroger’s largest corporate division for meat sales.
“Mark is a young, talented and extremely knowledgeable retail merchandising specialist that will add an element to the Certified Hereford Beef team that we have not ever had before,” says American Hereford Association Chief Executive Officer Craig Huffhines. “He has been involved in the trenches of retailing meat marketing bearing enormous responsibility for corporate profits. He knows what it takes for products to succeed at the consumer level. His work ethic and knowledge will be a great fit for our team and a major asset to the overall goal of the American Hereford Association and our flagship commercial marketing program — Certified Hereford Beef.”
Mark and his wife, Christine, have two children — Hailey (17) and Logan (12). Mark started on Dec. 8 and will work out of the Houston area.
Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Hereford Association, which is a not-for-profit, producer-owned organization dedicated to improving the Hereford breed in economic efficiency and the production of tender, flavorful beef to meet the growing consumer demand for a quality beef eating experience. For more on CHB LLC visit Herefordbeef.net.
Source: Certified Hereford Beef (CHB) LLC