The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) announced that three industry leaders were honored as recipients of the Frozen Food Hall of Fame Award during an induction ceremony at the AFFI Frozen Food Convention (AFFI-CON) in San Diego CA recently.
Inductees for 2017 were the late E Glen Grader, founder of Albany Frozen Foods; William S Smittcamp, president and CEO of Wawona Frozen Foods; and Ron Suchecki, retired vice-president of sales for Ateeco Inc/Mrs T’s Pierogies.
Grader founded Albany Frozen Foods in 1961, growing the business until its sale in 1975 to Seabrook Foods Inc. Following the sale, he held executive positions with Seabrook Foods, Oxnard Frozen Foods Corp and Continental Companies. He served as AFFI’s chairman of the board in 1986 and retired in 1987. Grader died August 27, 2014.
Smittcamp is president and CEO of Wawona Frozen Foods in Clovis CA, a family-owned grower and processor of frozen fruit. He joined the AFFI board of directors in 1988 and was appointed as AFFI Western Frozen Food Convention chairman in 1995. In 1997, he served as AFFI chairman of the board and currently serves on the Frozen Food Foundation and AFFI board of directors.
Suchecki served as vice-president of sales for Ateeco Inc/Mrs T’s Pierogies for nearly 27 years, retiring in 2015. He remains active with the Frozen and Refrigerated Association of the North East (FRANE) receiving FRANE’s “Person of the Year” award in 2015. Suchecki served as NFRA’s convention chairman from 2005-2009 and continues to serve on the board of directors.
