B&G Foods named Kenneth C. “Casey” Keller as its next President and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 14, 2021, and he will also be elected to B&G Foods’ Board of Directors. Keller will succeed B&G Foods’ Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, David L. Wenner, who will remain a director of the Company.
Based in Parsippany, New Jersey, B&G Foods and its subsidiaries manufacture, sell, and distribute high-quality, branded shelf-stable and frozen foods across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The company has a diverse portfolio of more than 50 brands.
Stephen C. Sherrill, Chairman of the Board of Directors of B&G Foods, stated, “We feel extremely fortunate to add Casey to our already very strong management team. Casey is a food and beverage industry veteran with excellent leadership skills and a proven track record of generating revenue and earnings growth. Casey also has experience with mergers & acquisitions and public company finance, most recently guiding JDE and Peet’s Coffee through a successful merger and post-merger IPO. We believe that Casey is the right person to lead B&G Foods and drive our organic and M&A growth strategy, promote our core values, promote our ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, and generate value for our stockholders.”
Most recently, “Casey” Keller served as president and CEO of JDE Peet’s NV, a $7 billion global coffee and tea company with over 20,000 employees based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He led the merger of Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) and Peet’s Coffee, Inc. and the successful initial public offering of the combined company in May 2020.
Before the merger, Keller was the president and CEO of Peet’s Coffee, a premium specialty coffee company based in California, and led the business through rapid growth in the United States and successful expansion into China.
Keller also served as global president of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc., where he was responsible for delivering sales and profit growth across the global gum, mints, and candy business. He joined Wrigley in 2011 as president of Wrigley North America and later assumed responsibility for Wrigley Americas.
In the United States, the company’s largest global market, Keller led a turnaround of the Wrigley business, delivering growth well above the industry average. In addition, during the integration of Wrigley into Mars, he helped establish the global business units and strategy for the combined Mars-Wrigley confectionery business.
Keller earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and served four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy before receiving his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
“I am incredibly excited to be joining B&G Foods and its very talented and dedicated workforce. We will continue to focus on organic and acquisition growth, innovation, operational improvements, cost reduction efforts, and stockholder value creation. At the same time, we will also continue to promote and further enhance B&G Foods’ corporate social responsibility efforts, including the company’s environmental, sustainability, and DEI efforts,” Keller stated.