Maple Leaf Foods shuffles executive team
Maple Leaf Foods made several changes to its leadership team this week.
Casey Richards, senior vice president of marketing, becomes president and chief growth officer; Iain Stewart, SVP of operations and supply chain, is promoted to chief supply chain officer; Adam Grogan, president of Maple Leaf Foods subsidiary Greenleaf Foods, takes up the role of president, alternative protein; Jumoke Fagbemi joins the company in January as its new SVP of people; and, finally, VP of Marketing Patrick Lutfy succeeds Richards as SVP of marketing.
The changes come as president and chief operating officer Curtis Frank prepares to step into the role of president and chief executive by spring 2023. As previously announced, CEO Michael McCain will shift focus to his role as executive chair.
As president of marketing, Richards will assume accountability of the company’s value-added prepared meats and poultry businesses under one combined organizational unit. Under his leadership, Maple Leaf Foods is also establishing a dedicated growth-focused center of excellence called Accelerate.
Stewart is tasked with expanding Maple Leaf Foods’ Operational Excellence System Center of Excellence; ensuring efficiencies and sustainability practices are consistently embedded throughout the company’s operations; and optimizing operations and profitability within the pork complex.
Grogan, meanwhile, will continue to lead the Greenleaf business, and will add responsibility for commercializing and broadening the Company's innovation and investment strategy in meat protein alternatives.
With more than 20 years of experience in human resources, Fagbemi will play an integral role in leading Maple Leaf Foods’ human resources team and its strategic people initiatives.
"With the company's state-of-the-art London Poultry, Bacon Centre of Excellence and Indianapolis Tempeh plants all now up and running, we are at a natural inflection point in our journey to realizing our full potential," Frank said in a statement. "As Maple Leaf Foods' next generation leader, my commitment is to leverage our world-class network of assets and our talented team of passionate people to deliver transformational results and create shared value for all our stakeholders as we accelerate and elevate our bold ambition to become the most sustainable protein company on earth. I am very optimistic about the next chapter in Maple Leaf Foods' story, and I am pleased to announce the team of senior leaders who will bring this vision to life."
