Phil Kafarakis

President, Specialty Food Association

Phil Kafarakis brings more than 30 years of food industry experience to the Specialty Food Association, with a background in innovative brand management, membership development, and strategic planning. SFA members are specialty food artisans, purveyors, importers and entrepreneurs, as well as distributors, retailers, and others involved in the specialty food trade. Overall specialty food sales in the U.S. totaled over $120 billion in 2015.

Prior to SFA, Kafarakis served as chief innovation and member advancement officer for the National Restaurant Association. The NRA is the world’s largest foodservice trade association, supporting more than 500,000 restaurant businesses. Prior to that, Kafarakis spent 10 years with McCormick & Company in Hunt Valley, Md., a $4 billion public food company. Kafarakis has also held executive leadership positions at Cargill, Jones Dairy Farm, and Kraft. He has a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from Northern Arizona University and an MBA from Georgetown University.