Meet the Chefs

David J. Alves obtained an A.S. degree in Culinary Arts, B.S. in Food Service Management and B.S. in Education from Johnson and Wales University, Providence, RI. David is the Vice President of Park 100 Foods, where he guides the Research and Development, Total Quality and Processing teams. A member of the RCA, his professional endeavors have been balanced between food service experience (restaurant Executive Chef, Chef Instructor) and processing experience (Sous-Vide processing, gourmet cake production and frozen/fresh kettle processed foods).

Eric Sparks obtained an A.S. degree in Culinary Arts and B.S. in Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University, Providence, RI. He also served as a graduate assistant and fellowship instructor at the university. He earned his Certified Executive Chef status from the American Culinary Federation in 1993, and has won numerous awards in both state and national hot food competitions. Eric’s fifteen years of Food Service experience has been in the capacity of Executive Chef for several restaurants, private clubs and hotels. For the past 17 years, he has been blending Culinary Art with Food Science to translate gold standard recipes into manufacturing formulas. Three years with Industrial Food Design in Lexington, KY and 14 years with Park 100 Foods. He has been asked to speak at national sales conferences, RCA technical workshops, seminars, and national conferences as well as IFT regional and national meetings. Eric is currently the Corporate Director of Research & Development at Park 100 Foods, based out of Indianapolis, IN where he manages the development of fresh and frozen product development for food service and national restaurant chains.

Tom Beagle obtained an A.S. degree in Culinary Arts and a B.S. degree in Food Service Management from Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI. He also served the university as a teaching assistant as well as a fellowship instructor while there. Tom's professional food industry experience is divided between managing numerous restaurant, catering and commissary operations as well as experience in sous-vide and kettle process manufacturing. He is a Certified Research Chef and specializes in concept-to-kettle bench formulating.