FMI recognizes notable achievements and new leadership positions

ARLINGTON, Va. – FMI – The Food Industry Association has recognized the appointment of several new leadership roles and acknowledges the significant contributions of an individual who championed a culture of food safety across the global supply chain.

Robert Garfield

After nearly a decade of shoring up Safe Quality Food Institute’s (SQFI) foundations by updating standards, overseeing a technology overhaul of SQFI’s systems and vastly expanding its reach, Robert Garfield, senior vice president of SQFI, a division of FMI, has announced his plans to retire.

FMI president and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin reflected on Garfield’s tenure, noting, “Oversight of SQFI required a leader with business acumen because the program needed to grow; the very nature of SQFI’s work necessitated someone steeped in the science of food safety; the job required a visionary with customer service sensitivities and trusted connections throughout the food industry; and to cap it all, the position called for someone who cared deeply about both people and detailed protocols. Bob Garfield and I had worked together for years in varying capacities and I knew him to be a man of great integrity, possessing a solid work ethic with a thorough understanding of the regulatory system and food safety science.”

Gigi Vita

Garfield’s retirement signals a new opportunity for leadership at SQFI, with Gigi Vita as the incoming chief food safety assessment officer and senior vice president of the program. Originally hired to lead sales for SQFI, Vita’s appointment cements her operational effectiveness through best in class business-to-business and business-to-consumer insights and sales teams, as well as supply chain, manufacturing, and globally sourced customer offerings. Prior to her work at FMI, she held leadership roles at major consumer packaged goods companies including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kraft/Nabisco, Campbell Soup, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and most recently, Dairy Farmers of America.

Sarasin further noted, “As we continue to serve the greater food marketplace, I want to recognize the important work ahead to collaborate, advocate and educate, while supporting the food industry with new appointments at FMI.”

David Fikes

• David Fikes is the executive director of the FMI Foundation. Fikes is a career counselor/advisor and is uniquely attuned to the heartbeat of the consumer. By shifting his career from an Episcopal priest, serving parishes in Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, into the food industry years ago, Fikes brought a diverse set of skills to the association world; he directed communications at the American Frozen Food Institute until he came on board at FMI nearly a decade ago serving a similar role. Fikes will continue to champion the food safety, nutrition and health goals of the Foundation, including research initiatives undergirded by a unified voice, and build momentum for the Family Meals Movement.

• Heather Garlich is senior vice president, communications, marketing and consumer/community affairs at FMI. Garlich celebrates nine years at the association and she is a longtime food industry communicator, beginning her career in Washington, DC, as a media and trends analyst. Prior to joining FMI, Garlich was a public relations lead for major food and commodity accounts at a global agency. She has focused on media relations and building the association’s digital strategy, as well as managing and directing communications and advocacy relations during her tenure at FMI.