WASHINGTON – The American Bakers Association has welcomed five new members to its board of directors: Tony Gavin, Darlene Nicosia, Dean Short, Paul Lattan and Tim Cook.

Mr. Gavin, executive vice president of Bimbo Bakeries USA, a business of Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, has held executive roles at the company since 2003. He previously held positions at George Weston Bakeries, Best Foods Inc. and CPC International.

Ms. Nicosia is the chief executive officer of Hearthside Food Solutions after joining the company in 2022. She previously was president of Coca-Cola Co.’s Canada and Northeast US zone. She has more than three decades of food industry experience with roles at The Coca-Cola Co., Kraft Foods and PepsiCo, Inc.

Mr. Short has been president and CEO at Lewis Bakeries, Inc. for five years. He joined the company in 1979 and has worked as production laborer, route salesman, sales manager, district sales manager, director of sales development, plant vice president, general manager, and senior vice president of sales and distribution.

Mr. Lattan, BEMA representative, is president – principal, Avant Food Media, and publisher, Commercial Baking, both of which were launched in 2020. Mr. Lattan has 32 years of experience in the commercial baking business-to-business media space.

Mr. Cook, allied at-large representative, is president and CEO of the Linxis Group, which is involved in specialized equipment and is comprised of five companies in The Netherlands, Germany, United States, Canada and France.