You can thank Christopher Scott ’88 for the answer.
Chris, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, worked for Winn-Dixie as their Category Manager for Meals when he transformed the industry, creating a program called “What’s for Dinner,” a marketing plan that continues to drive sales at Winn-Dixie through merchandising a complete meal solution.
Since 2013, when he joined Wakefern Food Corporation, the largest group of supermarkets in the United States, his focus is still on feeding families. At Wakefern, he has created a virtual warehouse, changing the overall philosophy from price driven to a customer and quality focus. His objective is to keep ahead of the food trends. To know what people like to eat, he visits restaurants, talks to chefs in the metropolitan New York area and is active in the Research Chef Association, a leading professional community for food research and development.
Chris credits his time at R-MA with teaching him the discipline he needs in his professional life. During his four years at the Academy, he was on the swim team and competed in track and field. He was part of the drill team for two years and served as the drill team captain his senior year.
“If you use a disciplined, thoughtful approach to almost any challenge you’re bound to generate positive results,” he said. “Using this approach, I’ve realized great success in the kitchen, in my professional and personal pursuits.”
With a master’s degree in service quality management and a bachelor’s degree in hotel resort management from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Chris first attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, where he earned an associate’s degree in occupational studies.
He is a former member of the McCormick Culinary Advisory Board and has NOAA – HACCP (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association – Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) certification, which is a nationally recognized food safety program.
Outside of the kitchen, for 10 years, Chris was a volunteer with the Brighton, NY, Fire Department and is a certified fire prevention instructor. He is also certified by the Department of Homeland Security in NIMS (National Incident Management System), the nation’s first standardized management plan that creates a unified structure for federal, state and local lines of government for incident response.
Chris serves on a variety of community and business advisory boards and is a past president of United Way of Greater Rochester’s Young Leaders Club. In 2003, he was selected by the Rochester Business Journal for inclusion in its annual 40 Under 40 list, which honors young leaders in the region who embody excellence in business, community involvement and personal integrity.
He and his wife, Patricia, reside in Scotch Plains NJ, with their two teen-age children, Alexander and Katherine.