Three More Bound for Frozen Food Hall of Fame Glory
They are: Nevin B. Montgomery, retired president/chief executive officer of NFRA; Dr. H. Reid Wagsta…They are: Nevin B. Montgomery, retired president/chief executive officer of NFRA; Dr. H. Reid Wagstaff, retired vice president, government and environmental affairs for J.M. Smucker Company; and the late Benjamin Zdatny, former vice chairman/chief operating officer of the Di Giorgio Corporation. The inductees will be honored at the Grand Awards Reception & Banquet on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Convention in Washington, DC. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman Park.
Montgomery joined the NFRA as director of membership in 1973, when it was the National Frozen Food Association. He served as director of education, vice president and executive vice president prior to being named president in 1984, established the financial stability of the association and met its goal of having one year of operating expenses in reserve.
Under Montgomerys leadership, NFFA launched the first National Frozen Food Month in 1984, enhancing the associations promotional focus. In 2001, he embraced the organizations needto evolve as refrigerated dairy products became an integral part of the association, renaming NFFA as the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association. He remained president/CEO of NFRA until his retirement in 2010.
Dr. Wagstaff joined the J.M. Smucker Company at its Salinas, California plant in 1976 to handle environmental waste issues at the companys West Coast plants. He later worked as director of fruit procurement and was promoted to the position of vice president, government and environmental affairs in 1984 where he worked closely with trade associations in Washington, DC.
Wagstaff is a past chairman of AFFI and served on the boards of many other organizations including the California Strawberry Commission, International Jelly and Preserve Association, America's Second Harvest, the Frozen Food Foundation, and chaired the environmental committee of the Grocery Manufacturer's Association. Dr. He also served in the US Air Force as an aerial photo interpreter.
Zdatny established Service Frozen Food Industry in the early 1950's which supplied frozen foods to retailers in the greater New York area. He later sold the company to the Di Giorgio Corporation, where it became the White Rose Company. Zdatny left Di Giorgio for a short time to become the president of Weight Watchers where he successfully developed a line of frozen and ice cream novelty products. In 1974, he returned to White Rose as president, and in 1984, he became chairman of White Rose and vice chairman/chief operating officer of Di Giorgio.
Zdatny was active with the Eastern Frosted Foods Association and previously served on the board of NFRA. He was vice chairman and partner of Nova Foods, a marketing and management consultancy in Chicago, before his death in 1995.
