TORONTO — Shawn Warren has been named chief executive officer at Commercial Bakeries Corp., a Toronto-based maker of private label packaged cookies.
Prior to joining Commercial Bakeries Mr. Warren was president and CEO of GreenSpace Brands, Inc., a branded food business that develops, markets and sells plant-based foods to the natural and organic food market. Earlier, he was CEO at Kona Trail Consulting Group. He also has worked at Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, Perfetti Van Melle and Mondelez International, Inc., and spent several years working in various snack leadership roles at Kraft Food Group. He began his career as a financial analyst with Procter & Gamble and with Labatt Breweries of Canada.
He received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Commercial Bakeries manufactures private label packaged cookies with a focus on specialty/premium, better-for-you, and seasonal/limited-time offering products for retail chains and brands in North America. The company was acquired in late September by Graham Partners, a private investment firm focused on advanced manufacturing companies. At the time of the acquisition Graham Partners said it had identified Commercial Bakeries as a company that could benefit from a consumer shift to private label from national brands, a continued consumer focus on better-for-you and allergen-free products, and an increased demand for seasonal/LTO products.
“After identifying the company through our investment theme program, Graham had the opportunity to build a relationship with the former family owners and watch Commercial Bakeries develop over a two-year period of time,” Andrew Snyder, managing principal at Graham Partners, said at the time of the acquisition in September. “What ultimately attracted Graham to the company was its flexible manufacturing capabilities and track record of innovation. We are excited to have the opportunity to leverage our experience and industry resources as we seek to further accelerate the growth of the business.”
