FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9:00 AM THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1997
Contact: 802-651-9600
Rob Michalak, Public Relations
Alan Parker, Investor Relations
Odak comes to Ben & Jerry’s with 25 years of senior management experience in a variety of consumer product and retailing businesses. These include; Armour-Dial, a Fortune 500 company, where he started his career in the food division and went on to become Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for all divisions including Dial Soap; Jovan, Inc., an innovative fragrance and cosmetic company, where he was part of the startup and served as General Manager responsible for marketing sales and distribution; Atari, where he was President of the Consumer Product Group and responsible for new product development; Dellwood Foods, where he completed a successful buy-out and merger with Tuscan Dairy which together manufacture a line of dairy products including ice cream mix UHT (Ultra High Temperature) milk, and dairy drinks. Most recently he has been part of the Senior Management team at U.S. Repeating Arms Co. (Winchester) and Browning, a manufacturer of outdoor and recreation sporting goods. (Mr. Odak’s biography is attached.
“We feel incredibly lucky to have found a person of Perry’s caliber to lead our company at this time,” stated Cohen. “Perry has proven business skills, an eye for both the top and bottom line and extensive experience in consumer product businesses.”
“As someone who has worked with consumer brands for most of my professional life,” said Odak, “I am really excited about the chance to work with so fine a brand - and company - as Ben & Jerry’s. There is a lot to do here and I view the tasks at hand as being great opportunities both for Ben & Jerry’s and for me.”
Leo Shapiro, founder of Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a renowned marketing research firm for grocery and specialty store retailing based in Chicago, said, “Perry Odak is one of the finest executives I’ve ever worked with, I think he’s just what Ben & Jerry’s needs. I have no doubt he will quickly translate the original strength of the company to today’s more challenging marketplace.”
Odak earned a B.S. and M.S. degree in Applied Economics from Cornell University. He is married to Rosalie A. Vitrano, a holistic health practitioner. Together they have three grown children. Perry and Rosalie look forward to establishing a residence in Vermont.
Ben & Jerry’s produces superpremium ice cream, ice cream novelties, lowfat and non-fat frozen yogurt, and sorbets using Vermont dairy products, Vermont Spring water, and other high quality natural ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, and other venues. The Company franchises Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops, including four in Canada and one in the Netherlands. The Company is also a joint partner in a production and scoop shop venture in Karelia, Russia; has a licensing agreement with an ice cream manufacturing and marketing company in Israel; and sells its products in the United Kingdom, France, and the Benelux countries.
Odak started his career in 1969 on the food side of Armour-Dial, Inc., a Fortune 500 consumer product business. His management responsibilities grew to include the job of Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Operations for all divisions including Dial Soap.
He left Armour-Dial, Inc. in 1978 for a more entrepreneurial venture as part of the start-up team for Jovan, Inc., an innovative market entry which established a new and highly successful fragrance and cosmetic company. At Jovan, he was General Manager of this $150 million company overseeing sales, marketing, operations and distribution.
In 1982 he was recruited as President of the Consumer Product Group for Atari, Inc., a $1.6 billion division and a major subsidiary of Warner Communication. In the highly competitive market at the time for home video games, he was responsible for new product introduction and for creating comprehensive sales and marketing strategy.
In 1983 he became a partner in Catalyst Technologies where he started and restructured numerous holdings and launched ETAK, Inc., the first vehicle navigation system which was highlighted by Forbes magazine as one of the ten best products of 1985.
In 1990, Odak became a principal in a private consulting business providing across-the-board business assistance, including assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer. During this period he took over responsibility for Sudbury Inc., a $360 million publicly held trading company with 5,000 employees and twenty-three subsidiaries manufacturing a range of industrial products including machine tools, specialized truck bodies and metal castings. In 1993 he served as CEO for Graham Packaging, a leading manufacturer of containers for major global consumer product companies with forty-one locations and 1,800 employees in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. Through improved sales, marketing and acquisitions, he grew the company’s business fifty percent over an eighteen-month period.
He has worked with Investcorp International, the highly successful merchant bank. While there he developed and executed a successful strategy for Dellwood Foods, a large dairy that included a buy out and merger with Tuscan, the largest dairy in metropolitan New York. Dellwood/Tuscan manufactures a line of dairy products that includes ice cream mix, UHT (Ultra High Temperature) milk, and diary drinks. In addition, as COO for Color Tile he developed a business plan that included new market positioning, better S.K.U. management and a simplified pricing model.
Most recently he has been part of the Senior Management team working with U.S. Repeating Arms Co. (Winchester) and Browning, a manufacturer of outdoor and recreation sporting goods.
Odak earned a B.S. and M.S. degree in Applied Economics from Cornell University. He is married to Rosalie A. Vitrano, a holistic health practitioner and together they have three grown children. Perry and Rosalie look forward to establishing a residence in Vermont.