For the past 34 years, Gary K. Reifeiss has lead the domestic marketing & sales division of Producers Rice Mill, a worldwide agriculture leader in rice and rice co-products. Reifeiss’s current position of Vice President Marketing & Sales, North America, includes responsibilities for class of trade sales (retail, food service, industrial) marketing strategies, product development, packaging, merchandising, logistics and sales force development, promotions, national account development, pricing and profit management for rice sales in the US and Canada.
Reifeiss came to Producers in 1986 after a successful five years with Club Aluminum, a national housewares manufacturer headquartered in Jacksonville, Arkansas, where he was Vice President of Marketing and National Accounts. While at Club Aluminum, he established the goals and led the efforts that accomplished significant sales and profit increases from the nation’s leading retailers through aggressive sales strategies and new product development.
Reifeiss’s early days were spent at the grassroots level of consumer products sales, gaining valuable experience and learning selling strategies working as a territory sales rep for the West Bend Company, a national small appliance and houseware manufacturer.
His career in sales and marketing began with Dillard’s Department Stores where he learned the other side of the buy/sale function as a fashion clothing buyer. This position was an invaluable launching pad to a successful career in consumer products sales & marketing, but he stalled as a fashion buyer when he soon learned that color blindness was a hindrance to the coordination of fashion clothing.
Reifeiss has held many committee positions within the rice industry, such as a member of the US Rice Federation Domestic Promotion Committee, Chairman of the US Rice Federation’s Foodservice Promotion Committee, and Chairman of the US Rice Federation’s Rice Usage Data Collection Committee.
Degrees:
MBA – University of Central Arkansas
BBA with a marketing major – State College of Arkansas