People Moves: Baldor Boosts Senior Leadership Team, Mondelēz Names New President

Baldor Specialty Foods Announces New Hires, Manufacturing Changes

Foodservice and retail specialty food distributor Baldor has announced several new hires and structural changes intended to enhance customer service and meet future goals. The company has onboarded Seth Gottlieb as SVP of logistics and Andrew Howell as SVP of operations, and added Avisheh Avini to its general counsel.

Gottlieb comes to the company with over a decade of experience at FreshDirect, where he was VP of logistics and operations planning. At Baldor, he will oversee inbound and outbound logistics, and will be charged with improving efficiencies from vendor deliveries to final customer touchpoints.

Howell arrives from now-closed vertical farming business Upward Farms where he served as EVP of operations. He also worked for 12 years at Sabra Dipping Company. His responsibilities will encompass operations management across Baldor’s distribution centers in The Bronx, New York; the Washington, D.C. area; Boston; and Philadelphia.

Avini offers relevant experience in the food service industry from her previous role as chief legal officer at Union Square Hospitality Group and her current position as a board member of ice cream company Salt & Straw. She will oversee all legal matters at Baldor.

“By bolstering our leadership team, we have the combination of incredible legacy talent that knows this business matched with new perspectives from industry leaders,” Baldor CEO TJ Murphy told NOSH in an email. “We’re already seeing the benefits of this, as we have executives working cross-functionally to improve our existing services for our customers while also introducing new services that make chefs’ lives easier.”

In addition to the new hires, the company has spent the past year realigning its manufacturing arms – including the Fresh Cuts Division and Pierless Fish business – to nail delivery times and fill rates. Murphy said Baldor has also moved to a new ERP system and honed its warehouse management and driver routing technologies.

Looking ahead, the distributor plans to double the size of its operations next spring. Also in 2024, Baldor will expand its delivery areas to new adjacent markets seeking to provide a better catalogue across all locations while highlighting product differentiation, as “continuous improvement is in [Baldor’s] DNA,” according to Murphy.

Sovos Promotes E. Yuri Hermida to President

Sovos Brands, the owner of Rao’s, Michael Angelo’s and Noosa Yogurt, has promoted former chief growth officer E. Yuri Hermida to the role of president.

Hermida joined Sovos in October 2022, overseeing the company’s sales, marketing, R&D and business segments while driving its overall growth strategy. Previously, he served as EVP at Reckitt Benckiser, a multinational producer of consumer goods in the health, hygiene and nutrition categories.

“Over the last year, Yuri has proven to be an invaluable asset in executing the Sovos Brands enterprise-wide growth strategy,” said Todd Lachman, founder and CEO of Sovos, in a press release. “Yuri’s dedication and collaborative approach [are] pivotal to our success, and I look forward to continuing to partner with him to drive our strategic plan and further our momentum in 2024.”

The news comes roughly four months after the Campbell Soup Company announced its plan to buy Sovos Brands. At a purchase price of $23 per share in cash, the deal values Sovos at approximately $2.7 billion, a 14.6 adjusted EBITDA multiple, including expected annual run rate synergies of approximately $50 million.

Sovos declined to comment on the promotion.

Mondelēz Brings on Stephanie Lilak as EVP, Chief People Officer

Thirty-year food industry veteran Stephanie Lilak has been announced as the new EVP and chief people officer of snacking giant Mondelēz International, effective January 15. She replaces Paulette Alviti, who will retire in April, following a transition period, after five-and-a-half years with the company.

Drawing from a background in human resources, Lilak grew her career at General Mills, where she spent 23 years in human resources leadership roles including sales, operations, and international positions.

At Mondelēz, she will oversee the company’s human resources function worldwide as well as diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Having a winning growth culture, anchored by engagement talent, future-focused capabilities and diversity, equity and inclusion, is an absolutely critical part of our current and future success as an organization,” said CEO Dirk Van de Put in a statement. “I am excited for Stephanie’s leadership as a champion of our people and culture.”

Most recently, Mondelēz posted Q3 net revenue of over $9 billion, raising its FY forecast up to 14-15% YOY growth. The Chicago-based company saw strong growth across every channel including biscuits and baked snacks (+12.5%) which accounts for 50% of total revenue.

Darigold Names Interim CEO

Darigold, one of the nation’s largest dairy producers, named board chairman Allan Huttema as interim CEO effective immediately. The move comes as Joe Coote, who was named CEO in January 2022, returns to his native Australia.

“I take over as Interim CEO with the benefit of having an extremely capable leadership team in place,” said Huttema in a statement. “Our business is structured to run around two divisions – business to business and business to consumer – each with experienced, proven leaders running them.”

The Seattle-based company is deep in a multi-year transformational journey modernizing and globalizing its business. The plan includes expanding production capability with a new facility under construction in Pasco, Washington, modernizing systems, reinvesting in the 100-year-old brand and refocusing its culture on excellence in execution.

Earlier this year, Darigold hired CPG leader Dan Hofmeister as president of its Business to Consumer division and dairy sector veteran Chris Rowe as president of its Business to Business division.

Other Notable New Appointments:

• Coffee co-packing and technology company NuZee has appointed former Reinvention Unlimited, Inc. CFO Randell Weaver as president and COO.
• Pierre Jammet has joined tinned fish producer Fishwife as head of sales, according to a LinkedIn post. He comes to the company from Petit Pot, a French dessert brand, where he served as chief sales officer.