Helping our partners be better with us than without us.

Leadership

Cristin Illes Kahale

CEO

We have a daily commitment to refining our business and products, by providing creative solutions with the highest level of food safety, integrity, and service. We cultivate partnerships with our customers to support their objectives and contribute to their success.

Rick Illes

OWNER AND CHAIR OF THE BOARD

I believe our people are the heart of ILLES. Our team embodies our ultimate goal: to serve our customers so they can best serve their clients, be successful, and thrive. As a team, we come together every day to do our best work and achieve this goal.

Dr. Kari Sweeney

VP Food Safety & Quality

We adopt and promote open, urgent, and direct communication with our customers regarding food safety, quality, and regulatory initiatives and incidents. With this approach, we build a strong and intimate community of food safety partners with an outcome of the safest and highest quality products for our customers and their clients.

Tom Bailey

Vice President of Operations

We never compromise on what we’ve committed to our customers. If a product or process isn’t consistent with our definition of excellence, then it’s not for us, as we know it will eventually erode the foundations of what makes ILLES Foods who we are. Our customers can count on us to deliver on our promises.

Sharon Webster Tolin

VP of Product Development

We bring years of experience, expertise, and creativity to all stages of the product development process. Our team of chefs, food scientists and technologists work with Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Quality Assurance, Food Safety, and Operations to create culinary concepts that help customers translate consumer demands into crave-able products.

Greg Nystrom

Chief Financial Officer

At ILLES Foods doing the right thing underpins everything we do. We build trust among our customers, people, and suppliers not just by meeting our commitments, but by making sure that we do so in the right way. We look out for their best interests even if it costs us a little bit more to do it.

Shana Almanza

Director of Human Resources

At ILLES Foods we strive to hire and retain talents that align with our core values. We respect, support, and celebrate a diverse and inclusive workplace that allows us to better understand our customers and our team. This makes ILLES Foods an enriching environment.

Les Howell

Executive Director of IT

IT’s main focus is to provide and support systems that allow the Illes team to get the best products quickly and safely to our customers. Staying on the leading edge of technology allows not only ILLES Foods to grow but our customers too.

Chris Chanski

VP of Sales and Communications

Our #1 priority is to help our customers succeed. So, the most important thing we can do is to listen to them. Not trying to sell something but listen and gain their trust. This is how we build trustworthy and rewarding relationships to help our business partners grow.

Core Values

Our Core Values provide a framework for our leadership and team when making choices that will be good for our customers, people, business, as well as the wider community.

We put Customers First

We go beyond sales and create with customers a healthy relationship that lasts and grows long after their purchase. We are people helping people. We think of and treat our customers as persons, not as numbers. We believe that if we don’t take care of them, someone else will.

irene alvarado

We only make products we Believe in

We uphold ourselves for the highest quality and safety standards. We engineer creativity to develop new concepts that are tailored to our customers’ specific needs. We are proud to provide them with solutions that we stand behind and that set them up for success.

Lindsay Ward

We pursue Excellence in everything we do

We have a growth mindset. We believe that today we can be better than yesterday. We take responsibility for constant improvements to products, procedures, and operations with the goal of helping our customers be better with us than without us.

Leo LY Facundo Jr.

We are Creative

We are devoted to thinking differently and approaching each project from every angle. This opens the door for continuous improvement and inspiration while allowing us to keep every day exciting and bringing fresh, unique, and memorable solutions to our customers.

Bonnie Sturrock

We believe success is a Team effort

We create real friendships at work. Knowing and trusting one another are the foundation of our success. We trust one another. We come from different backgrounds and experiences. We rely on one another’s unique talents and skillsets to bring our A-game every day and get the job done.

Javier Perez

We are Socially Conscious

We have a strong people-driven leadership that sees their Team members’ potential and supports their personal and professional development. We champion creativity, diversity, and inclusion. We challenge the ‘Golden rule’ and treat people – customers, vendors, and colleagues – how they want to be treated.

Quyen Trinh

We operate with Integrity

We keep our word and honor our commitments. We are truthful and honest. Not only we strive to do the right thing when no one is looking. We put ourselves in our customers’ shoes, we put purpose before profit, even behind closed doors and during challenging times.

Tiffany Thomas