Gourmet News

Flagship Food Group Appoints Butler CEO, Board Member

Published December 1, 2023

Flagship Food Group has appointed Adam Butler as chief executive officer and member of the company’s advisory board.

Prior to joining Flagship, Butler had a highly successful 17-year career at Kraft Heinz where he spearheaded the transformation for many of the brands in the U.S. as president for the convenient meals, frozen, coffee, cold beverages, and nuts categories. Most recently, Butler led the No. 2 Global Kraft Heinz market by accelerating topline, margin, market share, and employee engagement growth as the CEO of Kraft Heinz Canada.

Butler had senior leadership over brands including Kraft Mac & Cheese, Lunchables, Planters, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid and Bagel Bites, among others.

“We are so excited about Adam joining our company as we enter a new chapter of growth of our brands, products, and facilities,” said Rob Holland, Flagship Food Group’s executive chairman. “Having acquired five businesses and more than doubled our business in recent years, we’ve been carefully considering candidates for this position for quite some time. We met a number of outstanding people in the process; and Adam is someone with the unique combination of skill, experience, and passion that I know will make a great leader.”

Holland will remain chairman of the board and will continue to provide strategic leadership as the business develops into the future.

“I could not be more humbled and honored to join Rob and the Flagship group in the exciting journey ahead,” said Butler. “The market they serve is without question one of the most dynamic and influential drivers of food globally, and Flagship is well positioned to be an explosive and transformative leader in the space. I had the opportunity to spend time with a number of exciting and growing organizations looking for the right fit, and there is not a more impressive combination of brands, business models, culture and people out there.”

Based in Flagship Food Group’s Denver office, Butler will be charged with continuing the rapid growth the company has been driving in its brands in recent years, while also creating a strategy to bring unity and cohesion to the overall enterprise.

“Flagship has truly become one of the largest and most important players in the premium and Hispanic food space, and I’m excited to have attracted the talent that will leverage this position in the marketplace to drive accelerated growth, more solutions for our customers, and a broader reach to consumers across North America,” added Holland.

Flagship Food Group believes that its brands are among the fastest growing and most coveted in the industry; its 505 Southwestern and Young Guns brands are considered the largest and most historic brands in the Hatch Valley Green Chile space. Its Yucatan Guacamole brand was first-to-market in scaled retail guacamole nearly three decades ago and together with Cabo Fresh, creates one of the largest brand groups in the category.

Its La Tortilla Factory brand was an early innovator in better-for-you tortillas and today remains the largest, nationally distributed brand of tortillas that is specifically focused on organic and better-for-you. Its TJ Farms brand is one the fastest growing brands in its category of frozen snacks, sides, and potato products. Flagship operates five plants and warehouses across California, Kansas, New Mexico, and Mexico, and maintains sales, R&D, and support facilities in Colorado, California, Idaho, and Minnesota.

“Flagship brings a growing stable of premium brands with rich heritage and unparalleled quality to one of the fastest growing segments in food. Together, we’re going to forge a new frontier of flavor, and I am extremely fortunate to get the chance to work alongside such a passionate and talented group,” said Butler.

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Harvest Food Group Appoints Pandhi as President, CEO

Published December 1, 2023

Amit Pandhi

Harvest Food Group, a leading co-packer, supplier and distributor of frozen food products, announced high-growth CPG veteran Amit Pandhi as the new president and chief executive officer. Harvest Food Group, which will be celebrating its 25^th anniversary in June 2024, was purchased by Industrial Opportunity Partners in May.

Pandhi brings a wealth of expertise to HFG. He most recently served as the CEO of Popchips, one of North America’s premier better-for-you snack brands, where he orchestrated a remarkable transformation and revitalization of the company in partnership with private equity firm VMG Partners. Within a span of just three years, he oversaw the construction of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, devised innovative market strategies, and effectively doubled the business.

Popchips achieved a successful sale to a strategic acquirer in Q4 2022 under Amit’s leadership. Prior to his tenure at Popchips, Pandhi served as president and CEO of Arctic Zero.

“I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Amit Pandhi as our new President and CEO,” said Norman Young, chairman of HFG. “HFG is a rare case study of success in all frozen food categories, including Branded, Private Label, Food Service, Co-Manufacturing, and Ingredients. With Amit’s proven track record of driving growth and innovation in the food space, his guidance will undoubtedly propel HFG to new heights.”

As a leading supplier of frozen ingredients in North America, HFG offers hundreds of top-quality IQF vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and herbs sourced from all over the globe. Investments from Industrial Opportunity Partners have scaled HFG’s manufacturing capabilities, including vertical and horizontal bagging lines that form, fill and seal; a bulk packing line that converts case sizes; a state-of-the-art bowl line that will fill, seal and carton all types of meals; and a specialized cup line that produces convenient, grab-and-go frozen or refrigerated items. These manufacturing lines produce some of the most flavorful, safe, and high-quality frozen food products in the industry. With Pandhi at the helm, customers can expect even higher standards of quality and service.

“HFG makes incredible products across so many verticals, and I look forward to building upon its long history to grow our private label, food service, contract manufacturing, branded and ingredient businesses. I also look forward to deepening our relationships with existing customers, from the largest retailers and best global food companies, as well as serving the most innovative emerging brands in frozen,” Pandhi said.

“We are proud of the position we have carved out over the past twenty five years as industry leaders,” said Jason Eckert, co-founder of HFG. “Amit will infuse a new source of energy and expand the vision for what HFG can become. His experience in building organizations and maximizing growth and profitability will help position Harvest Food Group to tackle the challenges that our industry faces heading into the future. I can’t wait to see what we are capable of under Amit’s leadership and the support of IOP.” Eckert, who co-founded HFG along with his father in 1999, will transition from President to board member.

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Billerud Appoints Ivar Vatne as CEO, President

Published December 1, 2023

The board of Billerud has appointed Ivar Vatne as president and CEO. Vatne has been acting president and CEO since July 2023 and enters the permanent position with immediately.

“The board has conducted a thorough recruitment process and has evaluated both internal and external candidates,” said Jan Svensson, chairman. “We are very pleased that Ivar is willing to take on the job and it shows real strength that we find the best candidate within the company.

“Ivar is a highly appreciated leader, and he has deep knowledge about the company’s strategic direction. He has also proved that he understands the importance of continuous improvements to secure competitiveness, and has the ability to drive them.”

Vatne started as CFO in Billerud in May 2019. He was appointed feputy CEO in October 2022. Since July, he has been the acting president and CEO of Billerud. Vatne has a background from senior positions within Arla, Fiskars and P&G.

“I’m both happy and proud that the board gives me the confidence to continue in the role as president and CEO,” Vatne said. “Billerud is a company with great potential and fantastic employees. I look forward to continuing the work of releasing that potential.”

Billerud is a world leading company in high-performing paper and packaging materials – passionately committed to sustainability, quality and customer value. It serves customers in more than 100 countries with nine production facilities in Sweden, the United States and Finland.

Billerud provides paper and packaging materials that challenge conventional packaging for a sustainable future. It is a world leading company in high-performing paper and packaging materials made from virgin fiber. The company has nine production units in Sweden, USA, and Finland with around 6,100 employees in over 13 countries and customers in over 100 countries. Billerud has an annualized turnover of approximately SEK 42,6 billion and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

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