Fall River, Mass – Blount Fine Foods, a leading manufacturer of premium, handcrafted soups, entrées, and side dishes for retail and foodservice, and the market leader in fresh retail soups, today announced William Bigelow has been promoted to Chief Innovation Officer as part of the company’s continued investment in product innovation to meet the ever changing consumer demand for wholesome, premium prepared foods. The appointment also positions the company for continued stability, as it is another example of Blount’s long-standing strategy of investing to develop leaders from within.
“Since joining our newly formed Research & Development department in 2002, just four years into his career, William has been relentless in growing and elevating this area for the company,” said Blount. “Along the way, he has been instrumental in launching more than 1,000 new or improved products, and in recent years his innovations have allowed Blount to expand into new market segments and geographies.”
In his expanded role, Bigelow will serve the customer and sales team by translating national and global trends and consumer insight into opportunities to create valuable new products. He will also use the Product & Innovation (P&I) process to contribute to maintaining food safety and continued operational success. In addition to product-based R&D, Bigelow will continue to have responsibilities in business development, pricing, forecasting and customer service; and will add the additional responsibilities of packaging innovation and leading a future acquisition search to include relevant and opportunistic products, geographies and brands.
“As consumer behaviors, patterns and preferences continue to evolve, there is an opportunity for companies like Blount to expand the focus of innovation beyond the culinary trends of taste, texture, flavor and nutrition, and into facets of the eating experience like packaging, preparation,
and eating occasions,” said Bigelow. “These kinds of challenges are the things that allow me to pop out of bed every morning, excited to go to work at a company and with a team I have been passionate about since the early day of my career.”
Bigelow will continue to represent the customer’s interests and expectations within Blount as part of maintaining the company’s premium positioning in the marketplace. He will also advance and expand the building of necessary structures and systems to responsibly accelerate the bringing of products to market.
“William has been a valued executive in this company for several years,” said Bob Sewall, executive vice president of Sales & Marketing for Blount. “He has an excellent rapport with our customers, who know him well, trust his insights and look to him for innovative thinking.”
“One of the important values we want to bring to the marketplace is the ability for customers to look for us for new ideas,” added Blount. “As William and his team rev up their innovation engine, we will have more to bring to our customers, and they will have even more reason to engage and partner with us.
Bigelow holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from the University of Connecticut as well as a Master’s degree in Food Science & Nutrition from the University of Rhode Island. He has been the recipient of many business and industry awards, including being named to Providence Business News’ “40 Under Forty” list in 2015.
About Blount Fine Foods
Blount Fine Foods is a family-owned and operated company that has been processing food since 1946. Blount produces more than 900 premium products for restaurants, institutions, retailers and club stores in all 50 states. Blount manufactures more than 600 proprietary soup recipes, including 75 varieties of clam chowder alone. The company is the largest manufacturer of lobster bisque in America, was the first brand to launch restaurant-quality, single-serve grab-n-go fresh soups at retail, and has full lines of organic and gluten-free soups and sides.
Blount product lines include fresh and frozen (but never canned!) premium soups for foodservice and retail as well as premium side dishes and entrees. Blount’s premium soups and specialty foods are made with the finest and freshest ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible, and handcrafted in small batches by a dedicated team through unparalleled customer collaboration.
Blount operates production facilities at its Fall River, Massachusetts headquarters, in Warren, Rhode Island and McKinney, Texas. Its award-winning production facilities showcase the company’s commitment to energy conservation and sustainable business practices.
Customers include national restaurant chains that have their custom soups made for them in accordance with their secret recipes. Similarly, the deli departments of many large and small supermarket chains offer Blount-created hot-to-go soup selections as well as fresh store-brand pre-packed soup cups.
Blount also carries a full line of fresh and frozen soups sold to club stores and retailers nationwide under the Legal Sea Foods and Panera Bread brands.
Blount generates over 200 million servings of premium soups each year. For more information, visit www.BlountFineFoods.com
Source: Blount Fine Foods
