Leadership

Our leadership team has extensive and diverse experience within the food manufacturing industry. We are passionate about our business, and meeting the needs of our customers. Please click on each name for a background profile.

Al Copeland Jr.

Chairman of the Board

Bryan M. White

Chief Administrative Officer

Peter F. Smith

President & CEO

James Joshua

James Joshua

Vice President, Procurement

James holds a B.S. in Agribusiness Management from Alabama A&M University and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University.

He has an extensive background working in global supply chains and has worked for major foods brands, i.e. YUM! Brands/RSCS, McDonalds, US Foods, MARS, and Kraft Foods. He is well versed in procurement, category management, commodity risk management, supplier negotiations, forecasting, hedging, market analysis, national new product launches.

James will be responsible for providing the visionary and strategic management of the company’s Procurement department.  He will lead the Procurement team on the execution of sourcing, negotiating, and purchasing of the raw material ingredients, commodities, packaging, and supplies required for the manufacturing of Diversified Foods & Seasonings finished food products at both facilities in Alabama & Louisiana.

James Joshua

Vice President, Procurement

Thalya J. Hairston

Vice President, Quality

Darren R. James

Vice President, Operations

Al Copeland, Jr.

Chairman of the Board

Al Copeland Jr. serves as the CEO and Chairman of Al Copeland Investments (ACI), a privately owned, multi-faceted management company. His chief responsibilities include managing and overseeing the ACI restaurant group, the Copeland’s hotel division, Improv Comedy Clubs and Diversified Foods & Seasoning manufacturing plants in addition to other entities. Prior to this, Mr. Copeland served as Senior Executive Vice President of Copeland’s Restaurants, where he provided leadership and direction for the marketing, operations and purchasing and research aspects of the fully-franchised restaurant division. He began his career as an Assistant Manager of Popeye’s Chicken, a company his father founded in 1972. In addition, Mr. Copeland is executor to the Copeland family estate and Chairman of the Board for Al Copeland Foundation, which was founded after his father Al Sr.’s life was cut short by a rare and aggressive form of cancer, Merkel Cell Carcinoma. The foundation helps fund research to find a cure for Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC), a deadly cancer that strikes only three people per 100,000 each year in the United States. Al’s hobbies and interests include boat racing, racquetball, general fitness training and sports cars and racing.

Bryan M. White

Chief Administrative Officer

Born New Orleans, Louisiana. Education: Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering & Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University. Worked as commercial litigator with retired United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana in private practice prior to becoming corporate counsel for the Popeyes & Church’s chains from 1990-1992. Served as Vice-President & General Counsel of Al Copeland Investments from 1992-2003 and as Chief Administrative Officer from 2003-present.

Peter F. Smith

President & Chief Executive Officer

Peter Smith joined Diversified Foods & Seasonings as President and Chief Executive officer in January of 2013. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Ebro North America (Pasta/Rice), President and CEO of New World Pasta (Pasta), and President of StarKist Seafood (Tuna). He has also held a variety of sales, marketing, and general management positions with Procter & Gamble, Jacobs Suchard, H.J. Heinz, and Del Monte Foods throughout his career. He is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a BA in Psychology and a concentration in English. He also attended Dartmouth College for a summer semester.

James Joshua

Vice President, Procurement

James holds a B.S. in Agribusiness Management from Alabama A&M University and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University.

He has an extensive background working in global supply chains and has worked for major foods brands, i.e. YUM! Brands/RSCS, McDonalds, US Foods, MARS, and Kraft Foods. He is well versed in procurement, category management, commodity risk management, supplier negotiations, forecasting, hedging, market analysis, national new product launches.

James will be responsible for providing the visionary and strategic management of the company’s Procurement department.  He will lead the Procurement team on the execution of sourcing, negotiating, and purchasing of the raw material ingredients, commodities, packaging, and supplies required for the manufacturing of Diversified Foods & Seasonings finished food products at both facilities in Alabama & Louisiana.

Thalya J. Hairston

Vice President, Quality

Thalya joined Diversified Foods & Seasonings as Vice President of Quality in January of 2021. Prior to DF&S, for more than 20 years, she held several global and domestic leadership positions within The Coca-Cola System, most recently VP of Quality of Coca-Cola Refreshments. In addition to The Coca-Cola Company, she has worked at H.J. Heinz (Weight Watcher Foods Division) and Gatorade within Operations, Quality and Food Safety. Thalya is a native of Martinsville, Virginia and graduated from Virginia State University, with a BS degree in Biology, Pre-Medical.

Darren R. James

Vice President of Operations

Darren joined Diversified Foods & Seasonings in October of 2020. Prior to DF&S, for more than 38 years, he held several global and domestic leadership positions with Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Nakano Foods, and most recently VP of Operations at Sky Valley Foods/Litehouse Foods. Throughout his career, Darren has managed Capital Investment in all the above manufacturing facilities. Darren is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma but considers himself a citizen of the world, as he has lived in many different countries throughout his professional career.