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

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 OF 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

VP 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.

Elsy Ocejo

VP of Supply Chain

The quality of ILLES Foods’ culinary solutions begins with the ingredients that go into them. While procurement has become filled with more choices over the years, the integrity of the supply base is paramount to us. We care about our entire value chain from procurement to customer experience.

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

VP 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

VP 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 Operate with Integrity

  • We do the right thing, even when no one is looking.
  • We never cut corners for financial gain or convenience.
  • We tell the truth and keep our promises.
  • We respect one another and treat others as we want to be treated.
  • Everyone at Illes upholds a culture of food safety and quality.
  • We only make products we believe in and that we would be proud to serve to our own families.
  • Equality and diversity are at the very core of our beliefs.
  • We are committed to protecting the environment and benefiting the community where we work.
  • We understand that our decisions today impact tomorrow.

We stay Intentionally Curious

  • We are inquisitive and interested in the world around us.
  • We ask questions and are not limited by “that’s the way we’ve always done it”.
  • We are externally aware and always look for ways to be creative and think differently.
  • We are open to change, and we embrace diverse opinions, experiences, and backgrounds with passion and respect.
  • We encourage collaboration, empower each other to take thoughtful risks, and always strive to learn from our mistakes.
  • We challenge ourselves and each other to raise the bar every day, to be better today than we were yesterday.

We believe in the Power of Partnership

  • We measure our success by the strength of our partnerships.
  • We support and empower our people, customers, and suppliers, by creating long-lasting relationships built on trust.
  • We believe in accountability, commitment, and shared results.
  • We prioritize relationship-building and listening to our partners as a critical foundation of our business.
  • We are driven to achieve more collectively than we could individually. We achieve this by creating alignment through shared goals, open and honest communication, and defining clear expectations.
  • We strive to be an extension of our partners; proactively identifying ways to support their vision for their future. Their growth is our growth.