Our Team

Winn Meat Company’s most valued asset is our team, offering extensive experience and expertise in food manufacturing, culinary arts, and business practices. It is our team that provides the powerful intellectual capital that sets us apart from our competitors.

Each member of our team brings knowledge of the restaurant and hospitality business and a genuine understanding of what top chefs and food service leaders need to deliver the best to their guests. From executive chefs, to wine buyers, to food importers, to successful business owners, Winn Meat Company team’s combined expertise helps our customers win every time.

The Winn management team includes the following industry leaders:

Todd Winn, Co General Manager

Todd Winn grew up learning all facets of the fine protein business from his father, Robert Winn. Todd leads the company today with a particular focus on developing and cultivating relationships with first-rate suppliers around the globe to serve the restaurant and hospitality business in Texas and the Southwest. Todd is involved in every aspect of these relationships, from product assessments and purchasing to the logistics of getting the product to Winn Meat Company, in an efficient, safe, and economical manner.

The family business approach to customer service and the friendly and quality-oriented culture at Winn Meat Company is a benefit to our customers. Todd is continuing a family tradition of great business that started in 1902.

Todd attended Oklahoma State University where he studied business management. Todd and his wife Julie live in Dallas with their sons William and Adam.

Walter Wilkerson, Co General Manager

Walter came to Winn Meat Company after a career in the banking industry, having served such leading brands as First USA and Republic Bank. In addition to managing the financial functions of Winn Meat Company, Walter leads the sales team in the development of customer relationships in all geographic markets.

He came into the meat business with an interest in serving the growing restaurant and hospitality business in Texas and the Southwest.  You might say that Walter also decided to “join the family business.”  His wife, Susan is Winn Meat Company founder Robert Winn’s daughter.  He and his brother-in-law Todd assumed leadership of Winn Meat Company when Mr. Winn retired.

Walter grew up in Louisiana, a center of great food. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in finance, and from Louisiana State University with his M.B.A. He and his wife Susan and their daughter Caroline live in Dallas.  Their daughter Whitney is a student at SMU.

Travis Holder, Purchasing Manager

Travis Holder is another leading veteran of the fine protein business, heading up Winn Meat Company’s expert and efficient processing of products to meet individual customer specifications.

Travis started his career studying agriculture, with a specialization in meat production and processing at Tarleton State University. At Tarleton, Travis was very involved in the intercollegiate meat judging program. Travis joined Winn Meat Company in 1985 and was with the company for 8 years as plant manager. He then served as plant manager for other major operations in Texas.

Travis then returned to Winn Meat Company, contributing his leadership and quality management skills to help our brand grow.

Travis has a ranch in Sand Flat, Texas, where he lives with his wife Kellie and their son Dakota, who is a senior in high school. Travis enjoys shooting sporting clays and skeet in his spare time.

Charlie Estrada, District Sales Manager, Houston

A genuine understanding of chefs’ needs, a comitment to excellent service and to the highest quality products are what set Winn Meat Company apart from the competition. When it comes to listening to customers’ specific requests and getting things done fast and right, Winn Meat Company’s Charlie Estrada is an expert.

With over 16 years of industry experience, Charlie leads Winn Meat Company’s Houston area operations with a great passion for listening to our customers and delivering great products and service. He is a high-energy, high-impact ambassador of the standard-setting quality and excellent service that is the essence of the Winn Meat Company brand. Charlie personifies Winn Meat Company’s commitment to building our company on a solid foundation of strong customer relationships.

Charlie brings leadership to Winn Meat Company having managed sales teams for such national brands as Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper.

Charlie and his wife Norma have two children, Michaela and Dustin, and live in Pearland.  Charlie enjoys spending time with his wonderful family.

Gary Grady, Key and National Account Manager

Protein industry veteran, Gary Grady, has 33 years of experience serving the fine dining, retail and food service businesses, with particular emphasis on protein. After beginning his career in the industry with Safeway in Texas and independent retailers in Arkansas, Gary joined the meat producer/supplier, Cargill Meat Solutions (Excel beef & pork). He served Cargill for 20 years, directing wholesale programs for center-of the-plate producers and grocery chains throughout Texas.  He rose through the ranks, leading training initiatives, marketing campaigns and sales for the Cargill meat brands throughout the Southwest.  Gary has watched the meat industry transition into a more streamlined business serving larger needs for growing markets.

Gary joined Winn Meat Company in 2005 to lead the company’s sales and marketing programs. He currently manages the strategic partnership between Winn Meat Company and Cargill Meat Solutions, which includes the premier Sterling Silver® Premium Meats brand.  Not only does Gary possess vast experience and leadership in the industry, he is a Certified Culinary Professional, having trained at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York.

Gary and his wife, Phyllis met at Stephen F. Austin State University. They have been married for 33 years and currently live in Talty, Texas.  They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Deede Morris, Office Manager

We are proud to have Deede on the WMC team as the head of our Accounts Receivable Department. Her dedication and leadership helps Winn Meat Company and our customers work together efficiently.

Deede has been with Winn Meat Company for 11½ years in charge of accounts receivable.  Prior to that, she headed accounts receivable for Atrium Door and Window for seven years.

Along with serving Winn Meat Company with her leadership, Deede is a dedicated community volunteer. She is co-chairing the American Cancer Society’s Relay Walk for 2008 for Ellis County, with a goal of raising $200,000. She has also raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer research as a lead participant in the Komen 3-Day Walks each year in October.

Deede and her husband Kenny live in Red Oak. They have one son, Ryan.

Mark Tilley, Key Accounts Specialist

Knowledge of people is as important in the restaurant business as the knowledge of one’s products. At Winn Meat Company, we value relationships, and one of Winn Meat Company’s veteran voices in this endeavor is Mark Tilley. Mark joined the Winn Meat team in March of 2005, but has spent the last 16 years in and around the restaurant business, and has worked in every position in a restaurant from waiter/bartender to management. Mark brings to the table an in-depth knowledge of products and specific ways to utilize them that allow our customers to benefit. “This is not rocket science, follow the K.I.S.S. method and don’t try to force a square peg into a round hole”, Mark says. “Provide the customer with a quality product at a fair price, and they will be happy”.

Officially, Mark began his protein career in the meat market of the grocery store he worked in at 16 years old. Since then he has worked in many customer service oriented jobs in various selling positions. All of these culminate into a team member with a great talent for filling a need with a unique product or solving a problem.

Mark’s primary focus is to work with Ben E. Keith Foods sales teams to increase their customer’s knowledge of products and opportunities available at Winn Meat Company.

Mark works very closely with the Dallas and Fort Worth chapters of the Texas Chef’s Association and had the honor of being the Purveyor of the year for the Fort Worth chapter in 2007. He is also an advisory board member in the Culinary Arts schools at the Tarrant County College and at Aims Academy.

Mark graduated in 1989 from the University of Texas- Arlington with degree in Communications. He continues to live in Arlington with his wife of 17 years Patrice and their 2 four legged kids. In their spare time they enjoy traveling, theatre and listening to good blues.

By the way- K.I.S.S. stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Jody Eden, Operations Manager

With an expanding territory that includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and, now, San Antonio, Winn Meat Company’s delivery system is led by Jody Eden.  Eden was appointed Vice President of Winn Meat Company’s Warehousing and Logistics in 2007.

Jody directs and tracks timely delivery of product on Winn’s fleet of delivery vehicles throughout Texas to the multi-billion dollar restaurant and hospitality industry and works closely with common carriers and other distributors on out of state deliveries. Additionally, he manages the warehousing and receiving functions that are critical to insuring customers have the highest quality and most wholesome product available. Jody joined Winn Meat Company in 2003 as manager of warehousing and logistics.

Prior to joining Winn, Jody was with another food company where he managed warehousing in Dallas for three years. He was also in the production side of the meat business in Austin for 10 years, rising through the ranks to an appointment as production manager. A native of San Saba, Texas, Jody grew up working in the meat business at his uncle’s butcher shop.

Jody lives in Plano and enjoys fishing, hunting and shooting sporting clays in his spare time.

Jennifer Tyson, Food Safety Manager

Passion about the science of food and the meat business brought Jennifer Tyson into the field of food safety.  With an intense dedication to excellence and understanding of all facets of production from the ranch, to production facilities, to perfect care of product from plant to customer, Jennifer leads our team of dedicated professionals to direct and maintain our above-and-beyond industry standards food safety program at Winn Meat Company.  We continue to get the highest marks of achievement from our third-party auditors because Jennifer and our food safety team focus continually on the priority of providing our customers complete peace of mind of our having the highest quality and safety standards in the industry.

Along with a system of closely monitored and documented procedures, Jennifer and the food safety team use technology to track the quality of Winn Meat products at the plant.   The state of the art food safety technologies at Winn Meat Company are rare for a company of our size.

Along with having worked in food production programs for such leading global brands as Sealed Air and their Cryovac Fresh Food line of packaging, Jennifer was trained in one of the Texas’ premier food and meat safety programs at Tarleton State University, Texas A&M’s campus in Stephenville, where she excelled at the top of her class with the program’s industry initiatives in meat science.  Expert background in and how the business of selling meat connects with the production side comes from her having grown up in her family’s beef cattle ranching business in Wichita Falls, Texas.  And her love of great food and appreciation for food traditions also come from generations of great Texas cooking in her family, enjoyed and learned in her grandmother’s and her mother’s kitchens.

Jennifer and her husband Brady live in Ennis, where Brady is a high school football coach of a stellar team.  In their spare time, Jennifer and Brady enjoy hunting and the out of doors together.