Dirk Winkelmann has joined Nathel International, a division of Nathel & Nathel based in New York, as a Director of Global Procurement. Nathel International acts as the import arm for the flow of product from various countries of origin to their store operations in New York which cover the tri-state area as well as to a broader customer base composed of similar high quality wholesale operations in other metropolitan areas as well as a host of retailers on a regional and national level.
His duties will be a combination of general management, sales and sourcing, with a focus on global procurement and grower relations and development. While Nathel & Nathel have been in business for over 90 years, Nathel International has been operating for only a few years and has recently undergone a structural change with the addition of Paul Newstead as a Director and VP of Sales and Marketing, a highly skilled 18-year veteran of the produce industry. Dirk's addition rounds out the management team with a history of 25 years spanning international, export and domestic sales and procurement skills. His various positions included posts at Frupac, Chiquita Frupac, Vanguard International, Sunworld, Safco of America and Pacific Trellis – all in top management positions and always with a focus on a combination of sales and procurement.
"Nathel International is an exciting and unique business model which can offer growers a very specialized, boutique-like access to the market at various levels, whether it is to our own rapidly growing store operations in New York, or to similar wholesale businesses in other metro areas, or to a select cadre of regional retailers or specific high quality divisions of national retailers. We are structuring a highly responsive organization catering to this specialized approach. Simultaneously, with the rapid development of "direct retailer to grower deals", our association with a group of exceptionally high quality and critical mass volume grower/packers is allowing us to assist in these direct agreements between retailers and growers and act as a service provider to assure flawless execution of the flow of this product to retail. We are at a fascinating inflection point in our industry with changes on a global basis which are affecting our industry and we are adapting and preparing our company to be positioned to add value to our growers and customers."
Source: Nathel International
