USA – Campbell Soup has announced a strategic reorganization to capitalize on the rapidly changing food industry landscape while aligning the business to the company’s strategies.
According to the company, the new structure reorganizes its core business operations -including its important soup, simple meals and shelf-stable beverages portfolios and its powerful snacks portfolio -under the leadership of Luca Mignini as Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Campbell will also create a new accelerator unit to continue to expand in faster-growing spaces and invest in high-growth areas.
As part of the reorganization, Campbell Fresh will become part of the Accelerator unit to realize the growth potential of the packaged fresh category.
The new unit will also be responsible for long-term innovation, small brand incubation, future consumer experiences, e-commerce and new distribution models.
“The transformative Snyder’s-Lance acquisition served as a catalyst for us to re-examine how to best organize the company for increased emphasis on execution and profitable growth.
This strategic reorganization—focused on our core, the integration of recent acquisitions, the Campbell Fresh turnaround and long-term growth—provides the right structure for us to optimize the value of our businesses today, while creating future-oriented capabilities.
It will simplify our operations, improve our execution and enable us to allocate resources with a greater focus on profitable growth,” said Denise Morrison, Campbell’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
While speaking about Luca’s COO position, Morrison said, “Since joining Campbell, Luca has proven himself a superb strategist and strong executor with a keen understanding of the critical details of all our businesses.
He has led our best-performing division, Global Biscuits and Snacks, and helped engineer the acquisition of The Kelsen Group and more recently Snyder’s-Lance.
I am confident in Luca’s ability to lead our core businesses, oversee the integration of Pacific Foods and Snyder’s-Lance, and deliver improved execution and performance.”
Campbell is also creating a new unit focused on accelerating innovation, driving long-term growth and developing new business models that will shape the future of food.
It will include important capabilities and functions spanning strategy, innovation, consumer experience and new distribution models.
“Creating a single organization across Campbell’s core businesses will make us more agile and lead to more effective portfolio management to ensure that resources are invested in the areas with the greatest growth potential.
I am confident this simplified model will position these businesses for better performance going forward.
My immediate focus is on maintaining momentum in our existing snacks portfolio, integrating Snyder’s-Lance and Pacific Foods, and stabilizing the U.S. soup portfolio,” said Mignini.
Morrison added that Campbell’s Accelerator unit was designed to drive growth and build critical capabilities with an agile and dynamic operating model that, over time, would expand to other parts of the company and become the way to work in the future.
The company has initiated an external search for a Chief Acceleration Officer (CAO), reporting to Morrison, to lead the new unit and to fast-track transformation and future growth opportunities.
Campbell’s established Digital and e-Commerce unit will become part of the Accelerator.
The team will continue to lead enterprise e-Commerce strategy and capabilities, scale digital marketing efforts and help to develop more agile and flexible distribution models.
Campbell named Ana Dominguez, 46, as President, Campbell Fresh, and she will report to Morrison until a CAO is named.
Dominguez joined Campbell in 2014 as President, Campbell Canada, from SC Johnson, where she worked since 1997 in marketing and management roles.
Under Dominguez’s leadership, the Canadian business has demonstrated strong growth and margin expansion in its key businesses.
She succeeds Ed Carolan, who is leaving Campbell to pursue another opportunity.
Emily Waldorf, 40, has also been promoted to Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, and will continue to lead enterprise strategy development, planning and measurement.
She will also lead strategy for the Accelerator unit and will continue to report to Morrison.
Waldorf joined Campbell in 2012 as Director, Corporate Development as she previously held Corporate Development roles at Discovery Communications and AT&T Corp., and served as a Special Advisor at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Carlos Barroso, Senior Vice President, Global Research and Development, will move to a strategic advisory role within the Campbell Snacks business.
Bethmara Kessler, who previously served as Senior Vice President, Integrated Global Services, has left the company to pursue other opportunities.
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Anthony DiSilvestro will oversee many of Campbell’s Integrated Global Services, including Financial Planning and Analysis and Information Technology.
