Robin M. Venn has been named president of Tippin’s Gourmet Pies, LLC, a maker of homestyle pies, baked foods and soups distributing product to retailers in 16 states across the United States. He succeeds Mark Boyer, who stepped down from the position in April. David Ball, chief executive officer of Ball’s Food Stores, Tippin’s parent company, had been leading the company on an interim basis.
Venn joins Tippin’s from Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co., where he was chief operating officer for the past two and a half years. Prior to Natalie’s he was CEO of Southwind Milling Group from January 2017 to April 2019, and CEO of LifeLine Foods, LLC from June 2011 to January 2017. He also has worked as CEO and general manager at Top Ag Coop, Inc., an independent consultant at RMV Group, LLC, and general manager at Poet Biorefining. Earlier, he spent nearly 11 years at American Italian Pasta Co. in a variety of roles, including vice president and general manager, plant manager, director of operations, and finance and operations manager.
He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Venn joins Tippin’s a year-and-a-half after the company moved into a new 52,000-square-foot baking facility in Kansas City, Kansas. The move coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Tippin’s said the upgrade was less about the increased square footage and more about what modern technology would do for streamlining production and making life easier for employees.
