Cobb-Vantress, Inc., has named Mike Pruitt as general manager – North America. In his new role, he will direct North American sales, technical services, and production. He takes over the position most recently held by Dr. Aldo Rossi, who has become world director of quality assurance and veterinary services.
Pruitt has been working in the U.S. broiler industry for over 30 years. He began servicing broiler farms in 1982 for Valmac, which was later purchased by Tyson Foods in 1984. He became president of OK Farms in 1990, and, in 1999, he joined ConAgra Poultry as executive vice president of live operations. After ConAgra was purchased by Pilgrim’s Pride, he became senior vice president of technical services at Pilgrims in 2004. In 2007, he became senior vice president of live operations for Foster Farms.
“I am excited to have Mike join us and extremely confident that his experience and leadership track record will be valuable to Cobb’s continued growth and future expansion plans,” said Stan Reid, Cobb vice president of sales and marketing.
Dr. Rossi began his career at Cargill in 1992, after receiving his doctorate degree in veterinary medicine from the University of California at Davis, focusing on poultry medicine. At Cargill, he worked in internal production for Sun Valley in the United Kingdom and later in the United States as the staff veterinarian for North American poultry operations. He moved to Elanco in 1995 as a poultry technical consultant, and then, in 1997, joined Simmons Foods as a company veterinarian, coordinating live production and plant operations. Since joining Cobb in 2000, he has served in various capacities and for the past six years as general manager for North America. His responsibilities also included U.S. hatcheries, grandparent and great grandparent production. In his new role, Dr. Rossi will oversee all regional quality assurance departments across the world as well as animal welfare programs and initiatives.
“Dr. Rossi is uniquely qualified to head up this important business unit, as demonstrated by his background and extensive experience in the poultry industry. Aldo’s leadership is crucial to guiding quality assurance programs and quality testing to ensure Cobb products are free from disease and that we have solid biosecurity programs in place,” said Randy Vardeman, vice president of production.
