InHarvest, Inc., is pleased to announce the promotion of Chris Bybee from corporate chef to Western regional sales manager for North America, effective immediately.

In his new role, Bybee will manage account acquisition and retention within the company’s established “Culinary First” sales strategy. He’ll continue to assist with broker training.

“We are very excited to have Chris transition from his role as corporate chef into the regional sales-manager role,” says Pete Linder, InHarvest’s vice president of Foodservice Sales. “Chris has a deep understanding of InHarvest’s products, an innovative mind to help operators feature our products across their menus, and how to incorporate whole grains into menus to offer patrons healthy and flavorful options.”

Bybee began his industry training at 14 as a dishwasher for a Houston unit of then-Nacogdoches, Texas-based Kettle Restaurants, where he rose through the ranks to ultimately become assistant manager while still a student. Upon graduating high school, he embarked for Europe and accepted a stage under a well-known chef in Switzerland.

That training launched a series of diverse leadership posts and culinary roles, including chef de cuisine of a restaurant/nightclub in Anguilla; executive chef and foodservice consultant to a healthcare system in Texas; corporate executive chef for a food broker in Colorado; and chef/owner of a full-service catering operation, also in Colorado. InHarvest, which had worked with Bybee as a consultant, enlisted him as a full-time corporate chef in 2012.

Bybee resides with his family near Denver, where he owns commercial incubator kitchens to help budding entrepreneurs launch their own food businesses. He is also a small-scale organic farmer.