Our People
Our record results would not have been possible without the unique talents and commitment of our team. We would like to recognize a few of our leaders for their great contributions and efforts during the year.

Matt Duffield	Matt Duffield. Matt has done a superb job of leading our Italian team. The facility has rapidly achieved our targeted levels of output and efficiency while producing great quality products. The plant has achieved the important ISO-9002 certification as well as passing many customer and regulatory audits. Matt has expanded the customer base and positioned the plant to make a meaningful profit contribution in 2002. Matt and his family have truly “pioneered” our progress in Italy.
Eric Johnson	Eric Johnson. Eric joined AIPC in 1991 from Frito-Lay. He has progressed in positions of increasing responsibility and was recently promoted to Vice President – Engineering and Project Management. Eric has overseen AIPC’s capital expenditure programs over the last several years including the new plant initiatives in Kenosha and Italy. During 2001, Eric really distinguished himself in leading our Borden Acquisition Integration Team. His leadership not only led to achieving the targeted synergies ahead of schedule but also increased our confidence in future integrations.
Walt George	Walt George. Walt joined us as Senior Vice President – Supply Chain from Hill’s Pet Nutrition early in fiscal 2001. Walt is reshaping our logistics strategies and driving customer-specific programs designed to lower total delivered cost and increase customer satisfaction. He has also been the sponsor of our Funding the Growth initiative, which is a comprehensive cost saving and optimization program. We would also like to welcome Tim Pollak as the newest member on our Board of Directors. His vast experience in consumer marketing and strategies strongly complements the strength of our board.

Funding the Growth is a new program to create a Company-wide emphasis on continuing to enhance our industry-leading cost structure. We have targeted $10,000,000 of annual cost reductions by 2004 through efficiency gains and process improvements. These savings will be deployed primarily to expand marketing support for our brands and to increase profitability.

Category Leadership – Our Brand Acquisition Strategy has positioned us to play a leadership role with our retail customers in the pasta category. The combination of our brands, domestic and imported private label and specialty products make us uniquely qualified to manage the pasta category, and the reception has been excellent. The pasta market has demonstrated excellent growth in recent periods, and we expect continued expansion during these times of economic uncertainty.

A Window to the Future – We completed a Long Range Business Plan and we believe we have established a leadership position in the industry that will allow us to grow our core business at 8-12% per year. This core (or internal) growth has been and will be supplemented with new business through acquisitions, outsourcing, and continued geographic expansion. This will allow us to continue as one of the fastest growing and most profitable food companies in the markets where we compete.

In this Annual Report, we emphasize the new window we opened to growth through branded acquisitions. We look forward to the future and to opening many more new windows.

In a year of tremendous growth for our Company during generally difficult economic times, we extend our appreciation for the support and partnership of our many fine suppliers and most valued customers.