NEWS IN BRIEF

Former Chobani exec takes over as Campbell Soup CFO

30-Aug-2019 - Last updated on 30-Aug-2019 at 16:03 GMT

Photo: Campbell Soup

Campbell Soup Company has appointed Mick Beekhuizen as its new chief financial officer and senior vice president leading the company's finance division, including tax, treasury, audit, investor relations, external development, corporate financial planning and analysis, and financial systems, as well as the Campbell's IT group.

Prior to his new role as CFO and SVP of Campbell Soup (effective Sept. 30, 2019), Beekhuizen was the executive vice president and CFO at Chobani where he helped improve the Greek yogurt giant's capital structure and supported its rapid growth. Beekhuizen will report to Campbell’s president and

CEO, Mark Clouse.

Beekhuizen succeeds Anthony DiSilvestro, who is leaving the company on Oct. 15, 2019 "to pursue other interests" after holding a number of leadership roles for Campbell since 1996. During his tenure, DiSilvestro played a major role in the company's $4.9bn acquisition of Snyder's-Lance in 2017 and leading the divestures of Campbell Fresh and Campbell International.

“Anthony has been a strong leader during his Campbell career and a valuable partner during my first seven months with the company. Thanks to his leadership, Campbell is in a stronger financial position today than it was a year ago,” commented Clouse.

“Mick’s background and experience in leading publicly traded and private food companies will serve Campbell well as we set the company on a course to deliver sustainable, profitable growth, and create shareholder value," noted Clouse.

Campbell Soup reported a profitable fourth quarter boosted by strong performance from its snack brands (+4% in organics sales) including Goldfish crackers and Kettle Brand potato chips, a positive sign for the company that has struggled in recent years due to evolving consumer preferences.

Commenting on its fourth quarter earnings results, Clouse said: “Our strong fourth-quarter results culminated a year of steady, positive performance for Campbell. We made significant progress against our 2019 strategic initiatives, namely: improving our in-market performance; over delivering our cost savings programs; strengthening our relationships with key retailers; focusing the portfolio on our two core businesses in North America; and, completing the divestiture of Campbell Fresh and announcing the divestiture of Campbell International. We have created a solid foundation to build upon in fiscal 2020.”