Grecian Delight Foods, a manufacturer, national marketer, and distributor of Mediterranean-inspired foods based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, announced it is another step closer to surpassing aggressive growth goals with the hiring of three top-level executives.

Recently hired executives include Michael Lerch as chief financial officer; Peter Cokinos as general manager and executive vice president; and William Nagle as director of business development.

“We are extremely focused on growth strategies for both the retail and foodservice business units at Grecian Delight. We needed the experience these individuals bring to the table to propel our business forward,” says Peter Parthenis Jr., CEO and president. “Having doubled our core business over the last six years, these individuals will undoubtedly help to further that level of success."

Prior to joining the company, Lerch was CFO for Wilbert Inc., an industrial holding company, where he oversaw five acquisitions or divestitures in the last seven years. He has food industry experience and 15 years as a CFO.

Cokinos’ comes to Grecian Delight Foods from Little Lady Foods and has an accomplished background with more than 20 years of increasing responsibility in food, working on more than $1 billion in business with companies such as Kraft, Kellogg’s, Heinz, Nestle, Schwan’s, Wal-Mart, Costco, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ Donuts.

In one of his first assignments, Cokinos has tasked Nagle to a newly created role of retail business development director. Nagle joined Grecian Delight Foods in April from Select Food Products, where he held the position of vice president of sales and marketing. 

He also worked closely with the culinary arts team to develop new retail products, resulting in business expansion by more than 40 percent for the organization.