CEO of Brighter Bites and Former Sysco VP of Produce
Rich Dachman is the Chief Executive Officer of Brighter Bites. Rich comes to Brighter Bites with more than 40 years of experience in the produce industry, 28 of them at Sysco, the world’s largest broadline food distributor. He retired from Sysco last month as Vice President of Produce for the global company. He had been a member of the Brighter Bites Board of Directors for more than three years.
Foodservice
A Denver native, Rich attended Colorado State University and began his produce career there with his family-owned business. Following the sale of the family business, he and his father opened a new foodservice operation in Denver for Kraft Foods, Inc. before Rich joined Kraft’s corporate office in Chicago as National Director of Produce in 1987.
Sysco
In 1992, he joined FreshPoint Inc. and was President of FreshPoint Operating Companies in Houston, Denver, Atlanta and the Company’s central procurement office in Salinas, California. When Sysco acquired FreshPoint in 2000, Rich was appointed to the position of Senior Vice President, Western Region, and in 2007 was promoted to Vice President of Produce for Sysco Corporation.
Awards
Rich has received multiple awards, including The Packer’s Foodservice Achievement Award, the Center for Growing Talent’s Jay Pack Cultivating Our Future Award, and Produce for Better Health’s Excellence Award. Rich was Chairman of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) in 2012, capping more than 10 years of leadership service for PMA.
Brighter Bites, Non Profit Produce Distribution with an Amazing Supply Chain & Story!
A discussion with Rich Dachman about Brighter Bites which is changing the lives of children & families in the USA. Rich has over 40yrs of experience in Supply Chain Produce from the world's largest distributor Sysco to helping smaller farmers aid the mission of Brighter Bites.
Foodservice, Nutrition and Making a Difference
Dachman’s presentation covers topics such as the complex matrix of foodservice distribution, the success of a distributor-operator relationship and the ways the produce industry can make a positive impact.
Leadership through Connecting & Lifting Others
Rich Dachman’s leadership story is about “Connections”. It comes from his own story of starting from the bottom & building to the top of his industry. As a teenager, Rich was rebellious & got himself into some legal trouble It was the attorney that represented him & helped me out of it and became my mentor. He dropped out of college temporarily in his Sophomore year and started his own business. Through many trials and tribulations, he climbed the ladder to the top position in the produce foodservice industry as VP at Sysco Systems earning a 7 figure income for multiple years. On his way up, he was the National Director for Produce Foodservice for Kraft General Foods, and went on to be President of 4 different companies for Sysco. The key to his story of success is that along the way there were axis points in time where one person, with minimal interaction, had a massive impact on his ultimate future. He has done the same in his long career and is passionate about mentoring young people on his teams, many of which have gone on to have amazing success. He encourages others leaders to understand the impact they can have on others. His presentation is heartfelt & inspirational.
