Swiss-Irish bakery company Aryzta on Friday named new North America and strategy chiefs as it tackles problems in the United States, where issues with undocumented workers and a failed retail strategy prompted a $1 billion loss.
Dave Johnson, a U.S. citizen previously at Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut and Kraft, will become Aryzta’s CEO North America on Jan. 23, while Irishman John Heffernan becomes chief strategy officer on Feb. 28.
In September, Aryzta reported a full-year loss of 907.8 million euros ($1.09 billion) after its bid to sell its Otis Spunkmeyer cookie products directly to retail customers backfired.
The company also had to take a goodwill writedown of 492 million euros in North America, in part as 800 experienced workers left its Cloverhill Bakery unit after a federal raid raised questions about their employment eligibility.
“I look forward to working with Dave and John who will strengthen and deepen our team’s expertise as we focus on our core strengths and to returning Aryzta to performance and growth,” said Chief Executive Kevin Toland, who replaced Owen Killian as part of a sweeping management swap-out last year.
Both Johnson and Heffernan, who is joining Aryzta from daa plc that operates Dublin and Cork Airports, will be on the company’s group executive committee.
$1 = 0.8303 euros
By John Miller
Source: Reuters
Schumacher will replace Alan Jope, who announced his decision to retire last September, less than a year after a failed attempt by Unilever to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business and just months after activist investor Nelson Peltz joined the company’s board.
Globally, plant-based ice creams have doubled their share of the market over the last five years, according to Tetra Pack. Pea protein and coconut milk are leading the way, but Tetra Pak cites data showing that oat-based ice cream launches have doubled in the previous year.
A myriad of so-called eco-labels are being rolled out across various F&B products, but with no gold standard or strict rules governing precisely what the logos mean and what methodology is behind them, concerns are growing that they will confuse consumers and ultimately be counterproductive.