Industry veteran Renee Hicks joins The Fremont Company

The Fremont Company said Renee Hicks, a 23-year food industry veteran, joined the 111-year-old Fremont, Ohio-based manufacturer as director of private brands. The company produces regular and organic store brand ketchup, steak sauces and barbecue sauces.

“Renee will be managing The Fremont Company’s fast-growing domestic account portfolio, dealing with our large pool of retail customers,” said Chris Smith, president of The Fremont Company. “Her background in account management on both the regional and national levels brings important expertise to help our company achieve new goals in new client acquisition, as well as expanding existing relationships.

“The private brands industry is reaching record sales numbers, and professionals like Renee are in high demand to help companies understand and meet market needs,” he added.

Store brand sales in the United States reached $118.4 billion in 2015, an all-time record, Smith said, citing data from the Private Label Manufacturers Association. That was an increase of $2.2 billion over the previous year.