Titan Frozen Fruit, a Santa Maria, California-based value-added food ingredient manufacturer and fruit processor, has named Alan Cutler as its chief financial officer and appointed Tom Byrne as executive vice president of commercial development.
“Given Alan’s and Tom’s successful track records, we are confident they will play a key role in our transformation,” said CEO Jon Larsen. “Alan’s leadership in developing financial strategies to drive sustainable growth, as well as his focus on enhancing Titan’s finance function and processes, will be critical as we build out the organization. Additionally, Tom’s strong sales and business development background and his M&A experience will be an asset as we look for new opportunities to grow the business both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
Cutler has spent over 25 years building and leading teams in the food, agriculture and manufacturing industries, most recently as chief financial officer of Randall Foods. Some of his previous C-level roles include serving as CFO at Vita-Pakt Citrus Products Co., CEO and COO at True Fresh High Pressure Processing/True Food Innovations, and CFO/President/GM at Goglanian Bakeries Inc.
“I’m eager to work with the Titan team to leverage what I’ve learned over my long career in food processing to help position the company for its next stage of growth,” said Cutler.
With more than 25 years of experience leading transformational changes in complex business environments, Byrne was most recently senior vice president – division manager at Golden West Packaging Group, where he led the integration of three agricultural-centric packaging businesses. Previously, he served as president of Growers Express, and was also vice president – general manager at Sambrailo Packaging, and director of food sales at Peninsula Packaging.
In this newly created executive vice president of commercial Development position, Byrne will lead business and product development and operational efficiencies across Titan, and will also serve as a critical member of the company’s Corporate Development/M&A team.
Titan Frozen Fruit, a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners and Windhover Capital, buys berries from a network of large commercial growers in California and Mexico for processing into a variety of pack styles including IQF and block quick frozen, aseptic and pasteurized purées, purée concentrate and thermal particulate). The fruit, processed at plants in Salinas and Santa Maria, is supplied to a diversified roster of food and beverage manufacturers, foodservice/QSRs and retail/club store clients.
