Milling & Baking News - March 9, 2010 - 36

Signature Interview



With success, AIPC sees broader
opportunities with store brands
Continued from Page 1

Mr. Kelly was announced. The price
was up 1,200% from the low of $3
per share in January 2006, when the
company was mired in an accounting investigation that led to lawsuits,
criminal charges and the departure of
top AIPC executives.
"This company is really poised for
growth," Mr. Kelly said. "If you take a
look at our financial performance, it's
been nothing short of outstanding. If
you look at our market performance
the last couple of years that was nothing short of outstanding. We've been
among the best performing stocks
since we were relisted. Our balance
sheet is virtually debt free, well situated to increase shareholder value. We
have many opportunities, whether it's
dividends, share buy backs or acquisitions, to continue to drive outstanding growth. Our goal is to be a top-tier
performer in terms of growth.
"We think a lot of the same economic
circumstances that have benefited pasta
will continue to prevail in 2010 and
2011 as consumers rebuild their balance
sheets. While we're pleased with growth
prospects for pasta through 2011, we
are interested in additional opportunities. We have the category management
skills that are continuing to drive performance for store brands. We are looking
to expand into other underdeveloped
store brand categories leveraging what
we've learned in supply chain, category
management and grain-based procurement skills and conversion skills. We
run over 3,000 s.k.u.s. (stock-keeping
units) through our plants. If you take
a look at our inventory levels, we are
turning inventory very efficiently."
Even though his tenure at AIPC
may still be young, Mr. Kelly has not
hesitated to make major changes. A
decision to deemphasize the company's branded pasta in favor of store
brands required the difficult decision
to shed business that was highly profitable. The company's results in fiscal
2009 and the share price strength suggest the moves have paid off.
In food business from high school
New to the pasta business, Mr. Kelly
is not a food industry novice. Beginning while he was in his teens, the
Philadelphia native worked his way
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up the corporate ladder in the food
business, beginning at the bottom and
moving up a single rung at a time.
His father was in the dairy business,
and Mr. Kelly worked in supermarkets
to make money during high school. He
has a degree in food marketing from
St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia,
an education he believes paved the
way for the career that he followed.
When he graduated, he received 10 job
offers in the food industry.
He began his career in 1974 at Oscar Mayer & Co., where he spent 17
years, first in the sales department and
later in marketing. During his time at
Oscar Mayer and afterward Mr. Kelly
was transferred numerous times - he
counts 13 geographic moves over his career. An assignment that made a particularly powerful impression was a twoyear stint in Italy, where Oscar Mayer
owned a minority stake in Negroni, a
meat processing company there.
"It was during this time I developed
a passion for all things Italian - food,
wine and art," Mr. Kelly said.
When General Foods acquired
Oscar Mayer, Mr. Kelly was named
national sales manager for the Jell-O

responsibility not only for profit and loss
but for the company's balance sheet.
"They were very much a delioriented company, which gave me
exposure to private label," he said.
"Their customers included Sysco (a
large customer of AIPC)."
Mr. Kelly's last stop before taking
the helm at AIPC was at San Antonio
Farms, a Mexican foods manufacturer
based in San Antonio. Mr. Kelly was
c.e.o. of the business, which is primarily a maker of private label salsas.
The company was sold to TreeHouse
Foods in 2007. It was during the sales
process that he interviewed for the position at AIPC.
"I was aware of AIPC from the time
the company was formed," Mr. Kelly
said. "It was a great story. Part of it was
my interest in Italian products."
Mr. Kelly spent two months at AIPC
as chief operating officer, transitioning

'This company is really poised for
growth. If you take a look at our
financial performance, it's been
nothing short of outstanding.'
- John P. (Jack) Kelly
American Italian Pasta Co.
snacks business, but when Philip Morris acquired Kraft, merging this business with General Foods, Mr. Kelly
decided to leave the company for Häagen-Dazs, owned at the time by Grand
Metropolitan P.L.C.
"I love ice cream, and the experience gave me exposure to direct-store
delivery and with brands," said Mr.
Kelly, who was vice-president and
general manager of the eastern region.
In 1992 he joined Fiorucci Foods,
Italy's largest meat processor, specializing in cured products such as prosciutto and cold cuts. Mr. Kelly was
put in charge of the company's U.S.
operations, based in Richmond, Va.
He spent eight years there, gaining

to the post of c.e.o. as Alvarez and Marsal, a turnaround firm, wound down
its engagement. He succeeded James
Fogarty, an Alvarez managing director, who had been AIPC president and
c.e.o. since September 2005.
The succession brought to an end
a nightmarish chapter in AIPC's history. In September 2008, the company
reached a settlement with the Department of Justice and Securities and
Milling & Baking News March 9, 2010 / 31

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Milling & Baking News - March 9, 2010

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