"Rachel Cullen brings a unique perspective to Dean Foods through the combination of her progressive marketing and operational experience as well as her specific experience in the ice cream sector," said Alan Bernon, president, Dean Dairy Group. "We are confident that her broad capabilities will help drive our ice cream business, a segment we believe has excellent growth potential for Dean Foods."

Cullen brings over 20 years of consumer packaged goods brand marketing and strategic planning experience to this new role. Previously, Cullen played an integral role at Unilever's U.S. ice cream division. She was responsible for an extensive portfolio that included Breyers, Klondike, Popsicle and Good Humor brands. She oversaw new product development, packaging, advertising, pricing and promotion, while focusing on growth through innovation.

In this new role, Cullen will be responsible for developing and formalizing long-term strategic plans for this important growth segment including new product development, packaging, marketing and product innovation strategies. Cullen will report to Alan Bernon, president, Dean Dairy Group and will be based in Dallas.

Most recently, Cullen was chief operating officer at Orange Glo International in Englewood, Colorado where she developed and implemented the company's business recovery initiative. Prior to that, Cullen was vice president of Marketing, where she was responsible for long-range planning, advertising, consumer and trade promotion, product development and improvement, cost management and pricing.

Cullen spent the early part of her career in business development and marketing at Kraft Foods including almost four years in the cheese division. Before earning her MBA at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, she was an analytical chemist with Union Carbide.

From the May 9, 2007, Prepared Foods e-Flash