November 7/Cincinnati/Press Release -- AdvancePierre Foods announced that Tom Lavan is the new president of its retail division, which sells fully assembled sandwiches and value-added protein products to major grocery chains and club stores across the country.

Lavan is a consumer packaged goods executive with more than 25 years of experience in all facets of sales, marketing, distribution and new product development with both private label and branded products. He has held leadership positions in a variety of settings, including start-up, private equity-backed and Fortune 50 companies.

For more than 14 years, Lavan was in leadership roles with ConAgra Foods, managing parts of its seafood companies, frozen food company, and leading a $420 million business unit. He was most recently the president of Wolfgang Puck Consumer Products Division, managing and growing the Organic/All Natural Wolfgang Puck brand worldwide. Prior to that he was president and COO of Spartan Foods of America.