Coming from a serial entrepreneur background, Sarper has played key roles in food expo organizations, international business development and food trade, and foodtech communities.

As a food and foodtech enthusiast, Sarper has invested in several food brands and foodtech startups.

Although many foodservice professionals in town know him well, we’d like to share his short bio in his own words:
”I was Born in Summit New Jersey. I have worked in Bakeries and Restaurants from the time I was 14 years of age. I have three years of Baking school Graduating from Dunwoody Institute (known later as the National Baking Center) for Bakery Science.

I started working in Hotels in 1979. I opened Bally’s Park Place. I was an Executive Pastry Chef and Executive Chef for 20 years in Casinos, Hotels and free standing Restaurants before making the move into Specialty Food Sales. I was in Specialty Food for 17 years before making a move back into Wholesale Baking and Food Production.”

Robert, a 1977 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY, is a 40+ year-purchasing professional within the foodservice industry.

His purchasing expertise covers a diverse range of venues including independent restaurants, entertainment venues, gourmet retails stores, luxury resorts, casinos and educational facilities. To name a few – The Remington On Post Oak Park (rated top 10 hotels in 80s), Jim Jamail and Sons (ranked top 100 food markets), Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, The Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas are amongst the venues he worked for.

Currently, he is in charge of business development at VFP and building distribution channels.

Kate is all about design and presentation. As she has been in the design and engagement business for more than 10 years, her experience spans from books & magazines editorial to tasting events setup and costume & stage design. After joining VFP in January 2022, she enjoys her food media experience from her previous works and helps the company represent consumer brands in a compelling way along with our wholesales brokerage.

Chef Lucio is a 40-year veteran of F&B operations. He is a devoted organizational developer and executive leader with a successful background impacting performance through the coordination of individual and team development platforms.

His expertise is reputed for playing a key role in building and leading high achievement management that produced winning teams. Some of the roles Chef Lucio held in his career:

Guest Chef, The White House

Executive Chef, Excalibur Hotel of The Mandalay Bay Group

Executive Chef, Sheraton New York

Founder, InFoodSys