People Moves: Kite Hill Names Blair Cornish SVP of Sales; Chris Lansing Leaves Nature’s Bakery

Kite Hill Names Blair Cornish as SVP of Sales

Plant-based dairy company Kite Hill has appointed Blair Cornish as its new SVP of Sales. Cornish will report directly to the company’s CEO and Board Chairperson, Rob Leibowitz, and will work across all sales channels and geographies in addition to working with supporting operations including category leadership and sales operations and planning.

“Blair embodies all of the key skills, abilities, and values I am looking for in a SVP of Sales,” Leibowitz said. “She is a high-integrity leader with a rock-solid moral compass that is aligned with our core values at Kite Hill. It is important that key leaders on our team are advocates of the plant-based movement intellectually and personally.”

Leibowitz and Cornish have worked alongside one another in the past at Big Heart Pet Brands (formerly Del Monte Foods Pet Products) and Cornish stated she saw the opportunity to work with Leibowitz again as “the perfect next step” in her career.

Cornish joins Kite Hill after serving as SVP of Sales for juice company Vive Organic for the past three years and brings over a decade of experience in the food and beverage industry to her new role. In total, Cornish has over three decades of sales experience and has held management positions at a range of companies including Harmless Harvest, The J.M. Smucker Company and Frito-Lay.

“Blair is a proven team leader capable of developing and executing annual and long-term strategies and plans,” Leibowitz continued. “Her breadth of experience also includes the continuation of our deep relationships within the natural channel as well as our expansion plans that included: new channels including foodservice, e-commerce, traditional grocery, mass merchandisers and international.”

According to Cornish, the transition from beverage to food will build on her existing knowledge base and skill set with cold-chain products.

“While there are differences between cold chain distribution for beverages and other foods, finding the best route to market and making our products available to as many customers and consumers as possible is my end-goal,” Cornish said. “I’ll be leveraging my experience growing in existing channels as well as expanding distribution and ensuring we have a cost effective and efficient route to market…At the end of the day, driving velocity in current and new customers to drive category expansion is the same opportunity.”

Chris Lansing Leaves Nature’s Bakery For The “Entrepreneurial World”

Nature’s Bakery CEO Chris Lansing announced she has stepped out of the role after leading the company for the past four years, according to a LinkedIn post last week. During her time at Nature’s Bakery, Lansing helped facilitate the soft-baked snack bar company’s sale to KIND in late 2020 and has worked to integrate the two businesses over the past two years. Now that the integration is complete, Langsing said she is returning to the “fast-paced, entrepreneurial world.”

“Leading the Nature’s Bakery team has been an incredible personal and professional highlight,” she said in the post. “Together, we transformed the brand and product line, step-changed our manufacturing capabilities, delivered dramatic top-line and bottom-line improvement, and became the #7 bar brand and the #1 growth brand in the bar category.”

Lansing has worked in the CPG industry for over two decades and came to Nature’s Bakery with an extensive marketing background and hands-on experience transforming operations of underperforming brands including Naked Juice and Izze Sparkling Juice during her seven-year term at PepsiCo.

Steve Gardiner, former Chief Customer Officer of Nature’s Bakery, will take the helm upon Lansing’s departure.

The sale of Nature’s Bakery came only a month after KIND had been acquired by snack and confectionery giant Mars and according to Lansing, alongside integrating the businesses, she also helped create a new health and wellness snacking platform within Mars.

Future Meat Appoints Nicole Johnson-Hoffman As CEO

Cultivated meat maker Future Meat Technologies has appointed Nicole Johnson-Hoffman as its new CEO and to the company’s Board of Directors. Johnson-Hoffman brings over 25 years of experience in agriculture, food manufacturing, food service, and meat production industries to her new role, most recently serving as Managing Director for Further Processed Foods for OSI Europe in Germany.

“It’s an honor to serve as the CEO of Future Meat Technologies,” said Johnson-Hoffman, in a press release. “Not only has the company made meaningful progress in developing the technology to achieve widespread adoption, but it is driven by a desire to support the entire meat industry’s shift to more sustainable practices – a cause I have championed throughout my career.”

During her time at OSI, Johnson-Hoffman served as both Senior Vice President, where she led global operations for McDonald’s, and as Chief Sustainability Officer, where she developed plans for the company’s global approach to sustainability and corporate responsibility. She also brings two decades of in-house counsel and financial expertise, during her time at Cargill, to her new role.

“We are extremely excited to have Nicole join Future Meat,” said Professor Yaakov Nahmias, founder and president of Future Meat Technologies. “Her vision and experience building and operating large scale food manufacturing facilities and working with global players across the ecosystem, are invaluable for a cultivated meat startup company that aspires for global transformation.”

Earlier this year, Future Meat opened its first pilot-scale production line in Israel and is currently scouting locations for a large-scale production facility in the United States. This growth was accelerated by a $347 million funding round the company closed in late December, according to Nahmias.

Planet Based Foods Names New CFO and VP of Sales

Within the past week, plant-based protein company Planet Based Foods has brought on two new members to its executive team with the appointment of Robbie Rech as the company’s new CFO and Dave Wilbern as VP of Sales.

Rech comes to the hemp-based meat company with over 20 years of executive management experience and most recently served as co-founder and CEO of Boulder-based HOPE Foods for the past decade, which sold to French dairy company Savencia in October. Rech assumes the role from William Blake Aaron who has transitioned to the role of Corporate Secretary.

“In my new role with PBFG, I will be drawing upon my passion for innovative plant-based solutions as together we work toward providing a more sustainable and accessible healthy food system,” Rech said in a press release.

Wilburn comes to the company from Cuisine Innovations where he serves as EVP of Sales for the manufacturing and operations-focused business development company.

“I’m proud to be joining the Planet Based Foods team as Vice President of Sales,”

Wilbern said in a press release. “To be a part of such an innovative group that prioritizes the health of people and the planet is incredibly fulfilling, and I am actively committed to the ongoing growth of the company through my new leadership role.”

Other notable new hires:

• Better-for-you dips, guacamoles and salad dressing maker Good Foods announced it has brought on Matthew Newman as SVP of sales to support the brand’s growth and financial goals.
• Climate-focused company Do Good Foods hired Thomas McQuillan as its new Chief Sales Officer. McQuillan assumes the role from Bob Davenport who has held the position since late 2020.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated that Juan Bautista Martin Alonso is Nature’s Bakery’s new CEO. The article has been corrected.