iSi North America announced the promotion of Jeanette Brick to President effective January 1. As president, Brick will be responsible for all sales, marketing, and operations of iSi North America. She will report to Rick Agresta, CEO iSi North America.
Brick began her career with iSi North America in August 2013 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing-Foodservice. Last year, her responsibilities were increased to include retail as well as foodservice, for the NJ based company. Prior to joining iSi, Brick was the Vice President of Marketing at the foodservice tabletop leader Arc Cardinal.
“Jeanette has been a much valued partner in growing our business over the past three plus years,” says Rick Agresta. “Her strategic decision making, supported by extensive industry knowledge and experience, has enabled us to build a stronger supply chain, improve our culinary support, and penetrate new markets. The launch in 2016 of our new, innovative Professional Charger range was a win/win for iSi and our customers and it was no surprise when so many foodservice operators came to her and iSi for help when sources for aerosol whipped cream became tight. I am looking forward to supporting Jeanette in her expanded role as she continues to enhance the iSi brand in the United States.”
Armed with a degree in International Marketing from Lehigh University, Brick set out to work for a European company. “I have always been interested international brands, and from my first job in the china and glass industry, it has been a conscious decision to build from there.” The next step was Waterford-Wedgwood as Director of Giftware and Special Events, where she frequently worked with Lord Wedgwood and Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York.
This background gave her an understanding of how to work as a subsidiary of a European company. “These experiences helped me to understand brand strategies from a worldwide perspective, and then how to interpret that strategy for the U.S. to make the brand come alive. The heritage of a company is its lifeblood but you need to make sure that you’re making the brand relevant to Americans whether they are chefs in restaurants or food enthusiasts at home. For example, in Europe, unsweetened whipped cream is the norm, but in America, the sweeter the taste, the better. Americans want the variety of chocolate, vanilla, pumpkin – and you can make that happen with the iSi Whipper system.”
In addition to her experience with European companies, Brick brought an understanding of combining sales and marketing to iSi. “I believe that marketing and sales are two halves of one whole and when they work in lockstep, that’s when the magic happens.”
‘I came to iSi with a strong understanding of the distribution platform in foodservice, and some creative ideas about how we could train Distributor Reps to demonstrate our products.’ Brick worked with culinary professionals to showcase recipes and the wide variety of foods, beyond whipped cream, that can be prepared with the iSi whipper and charger system. “It is important to train our sales teams so they can confidently demonstrate a variety of recipes. We know we’re not likely to tell a chef how to create a menu item, but we want our sales team show up with a whipper filled with food and ready to demonstrate, so chefs and mixologists can become inspired to think about the iSi system in new ways.”
A member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, Brick is one of only a few women senior executives in the equipment/small wares industry and now a member of the ranks of leading female executives in foodservice. “I’m very interested in how our industry can promote women to leadership roles. We need to interest more women in our industry, mentor them to success, and embrace their contributions. It’s an important reflection of who we serve in the foodservice community today. ”