By Don Longo – 01/28/2020
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Ryan Krebs, the foodservice executive who successfully filled the huge shoes of notable convenience foodservice guru Jerry Weiner at Rutter’s, has moved to Savannah to take on a similar role at the fast-growing Enmarket convenience store chain.
The Convenience Store News Foodservice Leader of the Year in 2017 is set to upgrade the menu at Enmarket, operator of 125 stores in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Krebs has a Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., and holds his Dietary Manager’s Certification from The University of North Dakota.
Formerly a restaurant manager at Rutter’s Middleton, Pa., store, he was elevated to director of foodservice in 2015 when Weiner retired. Prior to working at Rutter’s — a chain of 73 c-stores based in York, Pa. — Krebs was an executive chef, holding positions in restaurants, country clubs, hotels and health care. He co-authored a book in 2010, “The Long-Term Care Improvement Guide,” to help raise the standard of service, food and care in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.
Krebs used his experience as an executive chef to transform the foodservice operation at Rutter’s into a restaurant-quality experience.
In 2018, Rutter’s was named the CSNews Foodservice Innovator of the Year. Also that year, Krebs was named one of eight winners in the United Fresh Produce Excellence in Foodservice Awards program, which honors chefs and their companies for innovative and influential use of fresh produce in the culinary arts.
Among his other accomplishments, Krebs also spearheaded a new program at Rutter’s last year to focus on local manufacturers and suppliers, putting the emphasis on purchasing high-quality ingredients from producers/manufacturers within a 100-mile radius of the company’s corporate office, or in its home state of Pennsylvania.
With Krebs’ departure, Robert Perkins, Rutter’s vice president of marketing, is now in charge of foodservice at Rutter’s, with assistance from several internal people, many of whom are chefs, according to Chris Hartman, director of fuels, forecourt and advertising.
