The past few weeks has seen plenty of senior level moves and appointments in the meat sector showing there’s still plenty of interest in this industry. Some of the major processors have made changes over the past month and as part of a regular update, GlobalMeatNews will be highlighting some of the more high-profile changes.
Bernd Stange, COO of the Beef Business Unit of Vion, will take up his duties in July 2020 as a member of the new Vion Advisory Board (Beirat) for Germany. He will be succeeded by David de Camp, the current Northern Germany cluster director of the Pork Business Unit.
Together with the Beef team, David will focus on the introduction of the new Vion strategy, which consists of building future-proof, sustainable food chains. These chains, called within Building Balanced Chains (Vion), must lead to long-term relationships to give farmers a stable future and to offer our customers more variety in the product range. The new Beirat is in contact with external stakeholders and will advise Vion's Executive Board on business and social developments in Germany.
The director position of David de Camp will be filled by Leon Cuypers, the current Supply Chain director at Vion.
Mark McCully has transitioned from vice president of production at Certified Angus Beef after 19 years with the brand to CEO of parent organization, the American Angus Association.
The group’s executive team see new additions in Steve Ringle, executive vice president of business analysis, who has nearly 20 years with the brand in customer service and business development, and Pam Cottrell, senior vice president of people and culture, who for nearly 20 years has focused on nurturing the brand’s high performing and diverse team of employees. Bruce Cobb, executive vice president of production, is joining the team after 14 years as general manager of Consolidated Beef Producers, as well as leadership roles with the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo, Daymon Worldwide, US Meat Export Federation and Texas Beef Council.
Sara Scott, with more than 10 years of experience in distributor and restaurant strategy, training and marketing, has been promoted to vice president of foodservice. David O’Diam, now vice president of retail, also brings more than 10 years of meat science, merchandising and training solutions to retailers nationwide. Additionally, Cody Jones builds on his foodservice sales experience and passion for the global marketplace in his new role as vice president of international.
Topigs Norsvin has announced the appointment of Villaume Kal as its new CEO. He will make up the Board of Directors of Topigs Norsvin alongside the current directors, Cor van Hertrooij (CFO) and Hans Olijslagers (CTO). The Dutch Mr. Villaume Kal will succeed Martin Bijl, who left Topigs Norsvin in 2019.
Previously Villaume Kal was CEO of NIZO, one of the world’s leading companies in contract research for better food and health. Earlier in his career, he was CEO of Rousselot, part of Darling Ingredients. Before that, he held various management and executive positions at Royal DSM.
Hormel Foods stand-alone subsidiary Applegate has announced that Jim Graham will assume the position of vice president of research & development and quality assurance and Joseph O’Connor will take on the role of vice president of sales and marketing.
Graham recently retired from Mondelez International, formerly Kraft Foods Global, LLC, where he spent more than 30 years in research and development. O’Connor began his career with Hormel Foods in 2006. Both will report to John Ghingo, Applegate president.
ABP Food Group announced the appointment of three new non-executive directors to its board.
John Moloney joins the board as director and chairman designate. John has had significant experience over a 33-year career in the food and agribusiness sector. He is currently a non-executive director of DCC plc, where he is Chairman, and of Smurfit Kappa Group plc. He has also served up to January of this year a seven-year term as a non-executive director of Greencore plc.
Maloney was group managing director of Glanbia plc from 2001 to 2013 having held senior management positions within that organization, including chief executive of food ingredients and of agribusiness. Earlier in his career he worked in the meat industry and in the Dept of Agriculture and Food.
Tom Kirwan joins the board having stepped down from his position as ABP UK managing director last October. Kirwan began his career at ABP Cahir in 1982. In 1990 he moved to ABP UK where he held a number of senior positions, in Wessex Foods, the convenience division and as managing director ABP UK since 2009.
Chartered accountant, Fergal O’Dwyer, Chief Financial Officer of DCC plc also joins the board. Fergal is stepping down from his executive role in July 2020, a position he has held since 1994. Through his tenure at DCC, a diversified sales, marketing and distribution business, Fergal has gained significant experience in financial management, treasury, strategic and corporate development and acquisitions.
Prior to joining DCC he worked with KPMG and PwC in audit and corporate finance.
ABP Food Group also announced the appointment of two further directors to its board, Finbarr McDonnell and Mark Goodman, both executives in the group.
Kevin M. McNamara, the lead independent director for Tyson Foods has been given the additional role of vice chairman of the board.
The appointment means McNamara, who has been a Tyson Foods board member since 2007, will take on additional duties and responsibilities to assist the chairman with board matters, support the executive team on company matters, and focus on key strategic initiatives.
Also at Tyson, Les R. Baledge has been appointed to the board of directors. Baledge was executive vice president and general counsel of Tyson Foods from 1999 to 2004. He also practiced corporate and finance law with Kutak Rock and The Rose Law Firm, both located in Little Rock. In addition, he previously served on the boards of BMP Sunstone Corp. and Fairfield Communities Inc.
Dr Marleen Boerjan has retired as director of Pas Reform Academy.
Dr Boerjan joined Royal Pas Reform in 2000. As director of research and development, she was deeply involved in advancing the company’s development of new incubation, climate-control and automation products.
As a senior scientist in developmental biology her work included in-depth studies into the influence of breeder management and the incubation process on chick-embryo development. This helped to progress understanding of the effects of genetic advancement on the performance of commercial breeds.
She also played a key role in delivering comprehensive training programmes in all aspects of modern hatchery management, for customers worldwide. Incubation specialists Eline Holtslag and Lotte Hebbink succeed Dr Boerjan in this role.
Sanderson Farms has promoted Edward Chisholm to director of operations, responsible for managing the company’s processing, live production and sales operations. Since 2017, Chisholm has served as director of production for the poultry producer.
Former corporate production manager Mike Tamimi will be Sanderson Farms’ new director of production, responsible for providing leadership in the management of all live production operations. As director of production, Tamimi will manage and administer production divisions and programs, provide consultation and direction necessary to enable production management to meet operational objectives, as well as develop and execute strategic plans and programs in the areas of production.
