TAMPA, Fla. - CuisineWire -- Bay Food Brokerage has expanded its leadership team by hiring Nicki Crespo as director of fresh meat and private label. The move marks Crespo's retirement from a nearly 24-year career at Publix Super Markets, where she most recently served as the food retailer's category manager over the dairy, processed and frozen meat categories.

In her new position, Crespo will play an active role in Bay Food Brokerage's private label opportunities and will help guide the company in all initiatives involving meat departments in major supermarkets throughout the Southeast U.S. She will work closely with the entire Bay Food Brokerage team to grow sales with its manufacturer clients.

"We are so thrilled and proud to welcome Nicki to the Bay Food family," said Cammie Chatterton, CEO and president of Bay Food Brokerage. "Her immense wealth of experience working with one of the top retailers in our region spans so many areas of expertise that will be invaluable to our team and our clients as we continue our commitment to growing sales while providing best-in-class service along the way."

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Crespo began her career at Publix working in the meat department at a Tampa store in 2000. She quickly advanced to meat manager and, after eight years in department management, moved into the retailer's corporate office as a meat/seafood technical specialist. Crespo then worked as a retail improvement specialist until 2016, when she transitioned back to the corporate office, first serving as a fresh meat buyer and then as the category manager over the dairy, processed and frozen meat categories.

"What appealed to me about working for Bay Food was that, after nearly 24 years working almost every job available at Publix in the meat department, working for a brokerage was a side of the industry I'd never experienced," Crespo said. "Bay Food is so involved with their suppliers and vendors, and the amount of attention they give their clients is remarkable – they're simply best in industry. They're also very family-oriented, which was something I was looking for."

Crespo holds a bachelor's degree in animal science with a specialty in food animal industry and a minor in food and resource economics from the University of Florida. She was a Division I athlete and was the first female at the university to throw the 20-pound weight and hammer for the track team.