March 15, 2010
Industry Headlines
Joe Fugere, founder of Seattle-based Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria, was recently named the Full Service Operator of the Year by the Washington Restaurant Association (WRA). The WRA hosted a "Toasting the Finest: A Celebration of Success" awards ceremony on March 6 in Seattle to honor Fugere, along with other WRA award winners.
"These award recipients truly exemplify what makes the restaurant industry so great," says Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the WRA. "They have made significant charitable contributions to improve their communities. It's a privilege to represent such a distinguished group of professionals."
Tutta Bella was the first pizzeria in the Pacific Northwest to earn certification from the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana. Currently, the company has four locations.
Papa Bello Enterprises has named Sunit Saha as president of Papa Bello Pizza. With more than three decades of domestic and international business experience, Saha will direct and oversee the construction of a new corporate location and training facility in Tennessee. He'll also direct the expected expansion of several new franchised locations in 2010. The company says it is targeting high-volume college campus and food court locations.
Jim Price, CEO of Papa Bello Enterprises, says that "Mr. Saha is a seasoned and highly experienced restaurateur, with decades of experience building and growing companies in various industries. In addition to his international business experience, he has handled the day-to-day management and marketing of a very successful restaurant chain, and his insight in the industry is exactly what Papa Bello needs to help with our expansion plans."
Atlanta-based pizza buffet chain Stevi B's recently announced the hiring of Peter Klein, Bray Buckley and Lee Zimmeran. Klein will serve as the company's Director of Real Estate, while Buckley and Zimmerman will function as franchise sales representatives.
"The Director of Real Estate position is a newly formed role at Stevi B's Pizza, and Peter [is] deemed a perfect fit as he has extensive experience earned in diverse roles in real estate development and property acquisitions," says Stevi B's president Matthew Loney.
As for the sales reps, Loney says: "We are thrilled to welcome Lee Zimmeran and Bray Buckley to the Stevi B's team. Both bring exceptional experience to our concept, and we look forward to working with a group dedicated to Stevi B's value and franchise growth."
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. cheese production during the month of January was up 2.2 percent from January 2009. In January 2010, U.S. cheese producers recorded an output of 842.3 million pounds. Wisconsin produced 214.8 million pounds of cheese, while California produced 175.3 million pounds.
Other high producing states were: New York, New Mexico, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Iowa, South Dakota and Ohio.