James Vecellio

James Vecellio brings more than five decades of experience to the food industry, with a current focus on imported Italian food products. In his present role of 18 months, he works closely with distributor partners to ensure proper product stocking, conducts customer visits to promote and sell products, provides sales training to distributor teams, and advises customers on the advantages of imported products over domestic alternatives across New England and Eastern New York. Prior to this, Vecellio spent 22 years as Category Manager and Product Support Advisor at Sysco Food Services, overseeing product categories, monitoring food trends, conducting product testing and evaluations, negotiating marketing programs, and serving as the local expert on food, paper, and chemical products. His career began as a dishwasher, leading to an associate's degree in culinary arts from Johnson Wales University in 1981. He progressed through positions as a trained chef, executive chef in restaurants and corporate dining rooms, general manager at colleges in Connecticut, and into buying and sales roles. Vecellio maintains several professional credentials, including Serve Safe certification, coaching and maximizing sales training, certification in sexual harassment training, and training in proper chemical and food sanitation practices. He attributes his success to persistence and a commitment to ethics, honesty, and professionalism, values he promotes in all his professional interactions.