August 3/Toronto/Press Release – Maple Leaf Foods announced that chef Bob Villeneuve has been appointed director of Culinary Innovation.

“I am thrilled Bob has joined our team in this important role. He brings enormous expertise and passion to Maple Leaf,” said Stephen Graham, chief marketing officer, Maple Leaf Foods. “Bob will lead our talented culinary team and help drive our innovation and culinary leadership to bring outstanding products and ideas to our consumers and customers in Canada and beyond. This includes playing a key role in our product innovation pipeline, recipe development, foodservice menu design and promoting great tasting and nutritious new products like our Schneiders Country Naturals, Maple Leaf Natural Selections, Maple Leaf Prime Portions, Dempster’s Bagels and delicious Olivieri fresh pastas – and much more to come.”

”Maple Leaf Foods is a great Canadian company and is truly at the forefront of food innovation,” said Villeneuve. “They’re constantly looking for new ways to excite customers and make consumers’ experiences with their brands even better and I really look forward to furthering that mission.”

Villeneuve brings more than 20 years of diverse culinary experience to Maple Leaf Foods. Most recently, he held the position of corporate chef with Campbell’s Canada where he had responsibility for the company’s culinary vision. He has worked as a chef in North American restaurants and as a corporate chef for the largest wholesale food distributor in North America with additional responsibilities for sales support training and culinary consultancy.

Villeneuve holds professional certification from Cornell University, Canadore College and the Culinary Institute of America.