ORRVILLE, Ohio -- The J.M. Smucker Co. has announced that its board has implemented a leadership transition plan. It said that the plan leverages the capabilities of the executive team, provides continuity in management and underscores the company's commitment to focusing on long-term growth.
Effective May 1, 2016, Mark T. Smucker, president of consumer and natural foods, member of the company's board and fifth generation of the company's founding family, has been appointed president and CEO, succeeding Richard K. Smucker, who has served as CEO since 2011 and Co-CEO since 2001.
Richard Smucker will become executive chairman, succeeding current chairman Timothy P. Smucker, who will transition to the role of chairman emeritus and will remain on the company's board as a non-employee director.
Concurrent with these appointments, the Smucker board has also promoted Mark R. Belgya and Steven Oakland to the additional management roles of vice chair, effective May 1, 2016. Belgya, currently senior vice president and CFO, will be Vice Chair and CFO, and Oakland, currently president of coffee and foodservice, will be vice chair and president of U.S. food and beverage. In addition to his role as CFO, Belgya will be responsible for strategy, mergers and acquisitions, government and industry affairs and information services. Oakland will be responsible for the company's U.S. food and beverage businesses, including U.S. retail coffee, U.S. retail consumer foods, foodservice, natural foods, U.S. retail sales and marketing services.
The announcements are in line with the company's long-term strategy and continued focus on creating a larger, stronger and more diversified organization, it said.
Orrville, Ohio-based J. M. Smucker is a leading marketer and manufacturer of consumer food and beverage products and pet food and pet snacks with projected annual net sales of approximately $8 billion. In consumer foods and beverages, its brands include Smucker's, Folgers, Jif, Dunkin' Donuts, Crisco, Pillsbury, R.W. Knudsen Family, Hungry Jack, Café Bustelo, Martha White, truRoots, Sahale Snacks, Robin Hood, and Bick's. In pet food and pet snacks, its brands include Meow Mix, Milk-Bone, Kibbles 'n Bits, Natural Balance and 9Lives.
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