ORRVILLE, Ohio, Nov. 7, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- The J. M. Smucker Co. (NYSE: SJM) ("Company")
announced today the formation of a new strategic business
area—Sweet Baked Snacks—and the subsequent Officer election of
Dan O'Leary to Senior Vice President
and General Manager, Sweet Baked Snacks and Pet, effective
immediately. The Company has also announced a series of leadership
changes to support the business following the closing of its
acquisition of Hostess Brands.
Newly Defined Strategic Business Areas and Leadership
Changes
The Company has shared an updated strategic business area
structure to support the expanded family of brands and to continue
to advance its strategy. The new structure includes strategic
businesses overseen by Board-elected General Managers, all
reporting to John Brase, Chief
Operating Officer.
- Coffee, inclusive of the Folgers®,
Dunkin'® and Café Bustelo® brands, which will be
managed by Rob Ferguson, Senior Vice
President and General Manager, Coffee and Procurement. In his new
role, Ferguson will lead both the coffee business and the Company's
procurement management across all categories.
- Frozen Handheld and Spreads (formerly titled Consumer
Foods), inclusive of the Smucker's® Uncrustables®,
Jif® and Smucker's® brands, which will continue to be
managed by Rebecca Scheidler, Senior
Vice President and General Manager, Frozen Handheld and
Spreads.
- Pet, inclusive of the dog snacks and cat food
businesses, anchored by the Milk-Bone® and Meow Mix®
brands, which will be managed by Dan
O'Leary, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Sweet
Baked Snacks and Pet.
- Sweet Baked Snacks, inclusive of the Hostess® and
Voortman® brands, which will also be managed by Dan O'Leary, Senior Vice President and General
Manager, Sweet Baked Snacks and Pet.
- Away From Home and International, inclusive of the
Company's Canadian business, which will continue to be managed by
Tim Wayne, Senior Vice President,
Away From Home and International.
"We are excited to share this updated strategic business area
structure and the leaders who will drive the continued momentum of
our leading brands in these growing categories," said Mark Smucker, Chair of the Board, President and
Chief Executive Officer. "With this newly created structure, we are
better positioned to take advantage of synergies, which will allow
us to leverage the best-in-class expertise we have in our
organization around innovation, marketing, commercial activation
and supply chain management."
O'Leary assumes the role of Senior Vice President and General
Manager, Sweet Baked Snacks and Pet, following his time serving
as Chief Growth Officer, Hostess Brands, Inc., where he
oversaw the full family of brands and drove profitable growth in
the competitive snacking market. O'Leary brings more than 20 years
of experience across marketing, brand building, innovation, M&A
and growth strategy. Before joining Hostess in 2021, O'Leary led
Tyson Foods' retail prepared foods group as Senior Vice President
and General Manager and held leadership roles at Kraft Foods and
Mizkan America.
Ferguson takes on the role of Senior Vice President and General
Manager, Coffee and Procurement, following his leadership of the
Company's pet business since 2020. His leadership has been
instrumental in the successful reshape of the pet food and pet
snacks business, including continued growth for the leading dog
snacks brand in the market, Milk-Bone®, and establishing a
leadership position with its Meow Mix® cat food brand.
Ferguson joined the Company in 2015 via the Company's acquisition
of Big Heart Pet Brands, where he held leadership roles in
strategy, operations, supply chain and procurement, prior to his
election as Smucker Senior Vice
President, Supply Chain.
Establishment of Portfolio Management Organization to Drive
Transformation
Following the successful implementation of the Transformation
Office over the past year, the Company has established an
integrated portfolio management organization, inclusive of
Transformation initiatives.
With this decision, the Company will align Strategy, Finance,
Transformation and Information Services under the leadership of
Tucker Marshall, Chief Financial
Officer. This updated alignment will enable the close connection
between the Company's margin-management objectives and its multiple
planning processes with short- and long-term horizons.
Reporting to Marshall will be Bryan
Hutson, Senior Vice President, Information Services,
Transformation and Portfolio Operations.
Today, Hutson oversees the Company's technology strategy for all
aspects of the organization and plays a key role in significant
portfolio management initiatives. His experience includes more than
20 years of leadership roles in information services, corporate
development and supply chain. Hutson's new role will build upon his
current responsibilities to include advancing the Company's margin
enhancement efforts and enterprise-wide continuous improvement
strategies to ensure a pipeline of productivity initiatives and
profit growth opportunities.
"We will continue to advance the great work that has been done
to establish our Transformation vision and structure through this
evolved organization, which will enable greater cohesion among
leadership across the business," said Tucker Marshall. "In this next phase of our
journey, we will further integrate Transformation with the broader
strategy of the Company while continuing to embed the vision across
all planning processes. I look forward to supporting our continued
progress, which will help us deliver on our commitment to
continuous improvement and creating greater organizational
flexibility and agility."
Amy Held, Chief Transformation
Officer; Joe Stanziano, Senior Vice
President and General Manager, Coffee; Gagnesh Gupta, Senior Vice
President, Procurement and Commodities, will transition from the
Company, effective February 2, 2024;
December 1, 2023; and December 29, 2023, respectively. The Company
would like to thank these leaders for their many contributions to
the organization and their teams.
The Company will discuss the updated strategic business area
structure and leadership changes when it reports its second quarter
fiscal 2024 results on December 5,
2023.
About The J. M. Smucker Co.
At The J.M. Smucker Co., it is our privilege to make food people
and pets love by offering a diverse family of brands available
across North America. We are proud
to lead in the coffee, peanut butter, fruit spreads, frozen
handheld, sweet baked goods, dog snacks and cat food categories by
offering brands consumers trust for themselves and their families
each day including Folgers®, Dunkin'®, Café
Bustelo®, Jif®, Smucker's® Uncrustables®,
Smucker's®, Hostess®, Voortman®,
Milk-Bone® and Meow Mix®. Through our unwavering
commitment to producing high quality products, operating
responsibly and ethically and delivering on our Purpose, we will
continue to grow our business while making a positive impact on
society. For more information, please visit jmsmucker.com.
The J. M. Smucker Co. is the owner of all trademarks referenced
herein, except for Dunkin'®, which is a trademark of DD IP
Holder LLC. The Dunkin'® brand is
licensed to The J.M. Smucker Co. for packaged coffee products sold
in retail channels, such as grocery stores, mass merchandisers,
club stores, e-commerce and drug stores, as well as in certain away
from home channels. This information does not pertain to products
for sale in Dunkin'® restaurants.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of federal securities laws that involve risks
and uncertainties relating to future events and the future
performance of the Company. The forward-looking statements may
include statements concerning our current expectations, estimates,
assumptions and beliefs concerning future events, conditions, plans
and strategies that are not historical fact. Any statement that is
not historical in nature is a forward-looking statement and may be
identified by the use of words and phrases such as "expect,"
"anticipate," "believe," "intend," "will," "plan," "strive" and
similar phrases. Federal securities laws provide a safe harbor for
forward-looking statements to encourage companies to provide
prospective information. We are providing this cautionary statement
in connection with the safe harbor provisions. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date made, when evaluating
the information presented in this press release, as such statements
are by nature subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors,
many of which are outside of our control and could cause actual
results to differ materially from such statements and from our
historical results and experience. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, the following: risks related to
the Company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the
merger between the Company, SSF Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned
subsidiary of the Company, and Hostess Brands, Inc. (the
"Transaction"), including the possibility that the expected
benefits will not be realized or will not be realized within the
expected time period; the effect of the consummation of the
Transaction on the Company's ability to retain key personnel and to
maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and other business
partners; negative effects of the consummation of the Transaction
on the market price of the Company's common stock and/or
operating results; transaction costs associated with the
Transaction; the impact of food security concerns involving
either the Company's products or its competitors' products,
including changes in consumer preference, consumer litigation,
actions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other agencies,
and product recalls; the ability to achieve cost savings related to
restructuring and cost management programs in the amounts and
within the time frames currently anticipated; general competitive
activity in the market, including competitors' pricing practices
and promotional spending levels; the Company's ability to attract
and retain key talent; the concentration of certain of the
Company's businesses with key customers and suppliers, including
single-source suppliers of certain key raw materials and finished
goods, and the Company's ability to manage and maintain key
relationships; and risks described under "Risk Factors" in
reports and statements filed by the Company with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake
any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements
to reflect new events or circumstances.
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SOURCE The J.M. Smucker Co.