The J.M. Smucker Co. Changes Leadership and Oversight

Judd Freitag will assume leadership of The J.M. Smucker Co.’s U.S. retail pet foods and sweet baked snacks segments on March 7. The company also evolved the leadership structure for its supply chain and manufacturing organizations to strengthen oversight and execution.

“The promotion of Judd reflects our commitment to the Hostess brand and taking the necessary actions to return the Hostess brand to growth, while continuing to deliver the pet business,” says Mark Smucker, The J.M. Smucker Co.’s chair of the board, president and chief executive officer. “In addition, we are evolving the leadership structure of our supply chain and manufacturing organizations to ensure that we remain positioned to deliver best-in-class execution across our portfolio of brands.”

As part of his new role, Freitag has been promoted to senior vice president and general manager of pet and sweet baked snacks, an elected officer of the company. Freitag has held a series of leadership roles within finance, corporate strategy and brand marketing, and he currently serves as the company’s vice president, general manager and marketing for the U.S. retail pet foods segment. Freitag was instrumental in the turnaround of the company’s U.S. retail pet foods business. He will lead the advancement of the company’s sweet baked snacks strategy to drive growth for the Hostess brand, including delivering the base portfolio, expanding distribution, driving innovation, continuing the portfolio evolution and establishing revenue synergies.

The company is also decoupling its supply chain and manufacturing organizations to strengthen oversight and execution. Bryan Hutson will assume the expanded responsibility for the company’s supply chain activities in the role of senior vice president for information services and supply chain. Hutson is currently an elected officer of the company and oversees information services, the transformation office and portfolio operations. Randy Day is an elected officer of the company as well, and he will continue to have responsibility for manufacturing as senior vice president of operations.

Dan O’Leary, senior vice president and general manager of sweet baked snacks and pet, will exit the company on March 7. The company would like to thank O’Leary for his contributions.