Chobani Sees Key Execs Depart
Dairy brand Chobani has seen several executives depart over the last week, including president and COO Peter McGuinness, amid reports the company is delaying its planned IPO.
McGuinness’ departure was announced to employees on March 3. At the time, Chobani chief corporate affairs officer Cristina Alescii refused to confirm McGuiness’ departure, promising a comment to NOSH the next business day.
However, since then, Alesci, along with Chobani’s chief people officer Grace Zuncic and chief strategy officer Michelle Brooks have also left the company, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Attempts to contact other members of Chobani’s communications team went straight to voicemail, with emails also unanswered.
A pioneer of the Greek yogurt category, since its inception roughly 15 years ago Chobani has expanded its portfolio to include coffee, creamers, milk, probiotic beverages and, most recently, nut butters.
McGuinness joined the company in 2013 as chief marketing and brand officer. After a promotion to chief marketing and commercial officer (a move that saw him oversee both sales and marketing under one “demand” team), McGuinness subsequently was appointed to the role of president in 2019, adding on the role of COO in September 2020.
Alesci, who assumed her role in December 2020, was formerly a reporter at Bloomberg and correspondent for CNN while Brooks and Zunic joined in 2018 and 2013, respectively.
According to SEC filings, Brooks’ total 2020 compensation across salary, bonuses, stock and other compensation offerings totaled $783,436 while McGuinness’ came in at $4,000,096.
According to the WSJ, Chobani had been targeting going public in November 2021 at a valuation of $7 billion to $10 billion, but has now decided to push back the IPO until the second half of this year or possibly even 2023. A representative for the company later confirmed with NOSH that the change in timing was “due to market conditions.”
Analysts have noted that the IPO market has cooled significantly in recent months. Other publicly traded CPG companies such as Beyond Meat and Oatly have struggled with ongoing criticism and dropping stock prices.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated with a response from Chobani about the IPO delay.
