David Halt, a longtime executive at industry giant Red Gold, has announced his retirement. 

Halt served as the vice president of foodservice at Red Gold, which lays claim to being the world’s largest privately held tomato company. Halt is credited with growing the company’s foodservice business during his tenure. 

“It was an honor to help build a strategically focused foodservice division at Red Gold,” says Halt. “We benefited from the insightful ownership of the Reichart family, great Red Gold employees and dedication to our core principles and mission.”

Halt began his career in 1981 at Durkee Foodservice and later at Heinz Foodservice. Prior to joining Red Gold, he worked at Nabisco Foodservice, where he managed the newly created Vending and Alternative Channels division.

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In 1997, Halt opted to leave the world of large, publicly traded companies and instead joined family-owned Red Gold. Until Halt’s arrival, Red Gold’s focus had been primarily in the retail grocery space. His initiative was to grow the company’s foodservice division, something he did in spades. 

“David’s energetic, team-oriented approach to growing our presence into the foodservice business made a profound and positive impact on our company’s growth,” said Brian Reichart, President and CEO of Red Gold. “I join all Red Gold employees in thanking him for his 26 years of leadership.”

David and wife of 47 years, Cindy, along with his family plan to travel for several months, then David will focus on helping others build their business careers. David has established a scholar program at his alma mater, Youngstown State University, to grow the next crop of business leaders.   

“I want to thank all Red Gold employees, past and present, for sharing in an incredible journey of building a significant foodservice presence with corporate and independent distributors, regional restaurant chains, contract management companies and school districts around the country,” says Halt. “I’ve now passed along my insight from a 43-year foodservice career to a new leadership team at Red Gold and look forward to seeing the company continue to flourish.”