AUSTIN, TEXAS — Mike DeGrace has been named senior vice-president of Sales North America at Amplify Snack Brands, Inc., the parent company of SkinnyPop, Tyrrells, Paqui and Oatmega brands. Mr. DeGrace brings more than 30 years of consumer packaged goods experience to the role, having previously led sales and business development teams at Kellogg Co., WhiteWave Foods, Chiquita, ConAgra Foods and Kraft Foods.
Mr. DeGrace joins Amplify Snack Brands from Kellogg, where he served as vice-president of Food Service Sales and vice-president of Sales Strategy and Planning. Prior to Kellogg, he held several positions at WhiteWave Foods, where most recently he led the company’s national channels sales and strategy development for club, drug, dollar, military, convenience store and food service segments. He has a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Maryland.
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| Tom Ennis, president and c.e.o. of Amplify Snack Brands |
“We are excited to further enhance and expand our leadership team as we position ourselves for the next phase of our organizational development and growth,” said Tom Ennis, president and chief executive officer of Amplify Snack Brands. “The strengthening of our leadership team will help us realize our major growth opportunities in business development, product innovation and geographic expansion with our international portfolio of better-for-you snack food brands. Mike is an incredibly talented sales executive with strong national account relationships across multiple sales channels, and we look forward to his strategic contributions as we build upon our growth potential in North America.”
In addition to Mr. DeGrace’s appointment, Amplify Snack Brands announced other leadership changes. Brian Goldberg, chief financial officer, will transition to the newly created position of chief strategy officer and executive vice-president of corporate development. The transition will occur upon the appointment of a new c.f.o. in 2017, the company said.
“We are pleased Brian will transition into an integral strategy role during 2017, given his track record and strong background in corporate development, as we focus on the Tyrrells integration and realization of revenue synergies over the next several years,” Mr. Ennis said.
Stuart Telford, previously Tyrrells Group operations director, has been promoted to senior vice-president of global operations, and Jeff Arnold has advanced to the role of vice-president of North America operations.
Jason Shiver, executive vice-president of North America, effective April 1, will transition into an executive advisory role for the remainder of the year. The company’s board of directors will conduct an executive search for the positions of c.f.o. and general manager/president of North America.
“We remain intently focused on the execution of our growth initiatives and building upon the success of our international brands to drive sales and profitability,” Mr. Ennis said. “Stuart has already demonstrated meaningful value add to the organization and expanded our global capabilities in this core area. We would also like to thank Jason for his tremendous contributions and long-time support of Amplify and our brands as well as his continued involvement as an adviser.”
