People Moves: Awakened Foods CEO Dustin Finkel Steps Down; Organic Valley Hires New CEO

Dustin Finkel Steps Out Of CEO Role At Awakened Foods; Retains Board Seat

Dustin Finkel, CEO of Awakened Foods, announced he was stepping down in a LinkedIn post on Monday. The CPG food brand and co-manufacturing operation came to be after Finkel’s snack brand Ka-Pop! merged with Bubba’s Fine Food nearly two years ago to form a new snacking platform and co-packing operation, dubbed Awakened Food Crafters.

Finkel founded Ka-Pop!, an ancient grain popped chips and puffs brand, in 2017 and continued in his role as CEO when the two companies merged. Bubba’s, which makes keto-friendly snack mixes and granolas from the saba banana, saw its CEO, Jeff Schmidgall, move into the role of COO following the merger. Finkel will remain on Awakened’s Board and has not yet named his successor.

“This has been the hardest professional and personal journey I have encountered, and I have many mixed emotions about this decision,” Finkel said in the post. “I am so proud of what the team has accomplished and know that the current team will do amazing things with the business. In fact, in many ways, the team today is the best team we’ve ever had.”

The two brands continued to operate as independent businesses, but aimed to leverage their combined branding, R&D, operational and manufacturing expertise to grow their business by supporting other CPG companies with a co-packing arm. Awakened Food Crafters co-packs extruded puffs, nut mixes, popped snacks, granolas and baked goods.

Finkel also founded and continues to be active in Boulder-based natural food consulting firm MacCray in 2014, assisting brands including This Bar Saves Lives, GoodBelly, and Teton Waters Ranch. Additionally, Finkel is an adjunct professor at The University of Colorado teaching marketing, strategy and business management.

“Anyone who knows me through this journey can attest that I learned and grew more than I could ever imagine,” said Finkel in the post. “I made mistakes, more than I care to admit, I learned, I was humbled, and most importantly, I grew as both a leader and a person. My tenure as CEO was such a growth opportunity.”

Organic Valley Names Jeff Frank New CEO

Dairy farming cooperative Organic Valley announced the appointment of Jeff Frank as CEO last month following the retirement of its current chief executive, Bob Kirchoff. Frank joins Organic Valley after spending 25 years at Hormel where he most recently served as president and CEO of ​​MegaMex Foods, a joint venture between Hormel and Mexico-based food conglomerate Grupo Herdez.

“We are happy to welcome Jeff as our next CEO to guide organic food and farming into the future,” said Steve Pierson, president of the Organic Valley Board of Directors and a dairy farmer from Oregon. “He shares our values and vision of nourishing people, animals and the earth through ethically sourced organic food from small family farms. He has the skills and experience to navigate the complex challenges facing small organic family farms.”

The news comes as organic dairy farmers, particularly in the Northeast, have faced supply chain and contract challenges as large dairy conglomerates such as Danone look to simplify supplier networks. The Organic Valley’s cooperative recently announced it brought in 84 new supplier farms to its network last year, many of which had contracts terminated by other companies in the dairy industry.

“I think it’s the perfect time for new leadership to guide the co-op’s next phase of growth,” said outgoing CEO Kirchoff, in a press release. “I’m so proud of the hard work farmers and employees have put in to keep this cooperative moving forward. I am so grateful for having the opportunity the cooperative gave me and the support along the way.”

Jenny Craig Hires New Executive Chef and Vice President of Culinary Strategy

On the heels of introducing a packaged food line Jenny Fresh, weight loss and weight management company Jenny Craig hired Justine Kelly as the brand’s Executive Chef and Vice President of Culinary Strategy. Kelly, one of the co-founders and former executive chef for subscription meal delivery service Sunbasket, also worked as a consultant to develop the Jenny Fresh line.

“It was only natural that I join the executive team when my time at Sunbasket came to an end,” said Kelly in a press release. “One of my passions is building new things from the ground up, so I’m thrilled to be part of such a groundbreaking launch with Jenny Craig. It’s not only going to be a great service for our members who are looking for maintenance support after they complete our program, but also for other consumers who are looking for simple mealtime solutions.”

Kelly brings nearly 30 years of restaurant industry and recipe development experience to the role and will oversee the new Jenny Fresh line as well as all future food innovation. According to the release, Kelly developed Sunbasket’s first 800 recipes entirely herself.

Country Archer Provisions Appoints New VP of Marketing

Meat snack maker Country Archer Provisions announced the hiring of Andrew Thomas as the company’s new VP of marketing. Thomas brings over 15 years of CPG food industry marketing experience and most recently held the same title at Wilde Chips. Prior to Wilde, Thomas also served the VP of marketing at Chicken of the Sea. Thomas has also worked on marketing and brand management teams at General Mills, POM Wonderful, thinkThin, KeVita (PepsiCo) and Soylent.

Former VP of marketing Jeff Wong departed the meat snack company in August 2022.

“Beyond Thomas’ impressive track record growing and rebranding CPG companies, his entrepreneurial mindset to build businesses and creative, big picture thinking are assets Country Archer is honored to have at the helm,” said a spokesperson for the brand in an email to NOSH. “He has an uncanny ability to strategically create and innovate, while maintaining a passion for building high-performing, highly engaged teams.”

Hormel Foods Promotes Henry Hsia To VP of Retail Marketing

Hormel’s former director of marketing and R&D for Columbus Craft Meats, Henry Hsia, has been promoted to lead the company’s retail marketing efforts for snack and entertainment brands including Planters, Corn Nuts, Hormel Pepperoni, Hormel Gatherings and Columbus.

Hsia joined Hormel when it acquired Columbus Craft Meats in 2018. He previously held a range of marketing leadership positions at CPG companies including Ghirardelli, Basic American Foods, Otis Spunkmeyer and Clorox.

“Henry has been instrumental in the exceptional growth of the Columbus brand within the Hormel Foods portfolio and has significant experience in the food industry,” said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and CEO at Hormel, in a press release. “I look forward to his leadership in this important and growing segment of our business.”

Hormel acquired the Planters business in August 2021 and announced last August a restructuring into three operating segments, retail, foodservice and international, in order to become “a global branded food company” with snacking as its “next major growth pillar.” In addition to snack and entertainment, the retail division includes five other verticals including convenient meals and proteins, global foods, and value added meats and bacon.

PowerPlant Partners Promotes Two Employees To Leadership Roles

Food industry investment firm PowerPlant Partners announced two team members, Kathryn Cicoletti and Jigar Majmundar, have been promoted to the role of COO and VP, respectively. Cicoletti previously served as head of investor relations and marketing and Majmundar held an associate role on the firm’s investment team; both joined PowerPlant in 2021.

“Kathryn is a proven builder who can help us drive the firm forward,” said PowerPlant Managing Partners, Dan Gluck and Mark Rampolla, in a press release. “As we reflected on PowerPlant’s last eight years of expansion combined with Kathryn’s insights on impact and sustainability-focused investing, we decided we needed a leader dedicated to our next phase of growth.”

PowerPlant closed its fund III in September 2022 at $330 million. The firm’s portfolio includes Zico, Thistle, Zero Egg, Thrive Market, Vive Organic, Bon Devil, and OWYN.