Chris Ruettgers, former Icicle CEO, hired as Mark Foods president

Chris Ruettgers, who served a seven-year stint at Icicle Seafoods until soon after it was bought by Cooke Aquaculture in 2016, has been hired as the president of New York City, U.S.A.-based Mark Foods.

Mark Foods CEO Barry Markman confirmed the hire in an email to SeafoodSource. He said the company will make an official announcement on Friday, 16 March.

Ruettgers was named Icicle’s CEO in 2015 after five years as executive vice president of strategy and corporate development.  At the time of Cooke’s purchase of Icicle in June 2016, Ruettgers said he was “excited about the opportunity to join Cooke,” but he resigned seven months after afterwards.

Mark Foods focuses on the import and distribution of premium seafood, with around 95 percent of its products being wild-caught. It is the largest U.S. provider of Marine Stewardship Council-certified toothfish and it belongs to the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators. The company had USD 248 million (EUR 200.6 million) in sales in 2016.