6/21/22

B&G Foods has announced that it will be reorganizing itself into four new business divisions in a move that is hoped to bring clearer decisions and greater accountability.

Due to the complex nature of B&G’s business, it was necessary to compartmentalize. Not many food businesses have such a wide range of products. B&G supplies frozen vegetables, spices, snacks, sauces, meals, health foods, and so on. In fact, the only product category they do not deal in is beverages. So now, in order to preserve some agility, four new business divisions will be created, each with its own leadership.

The four new divisions will represent the main categories of B&G’s business. They are Meals, Specialty, Frozen & Vegetables, and Spices & Seasoning.

Meals currently represent 22% of net sales, however, there is not yet a candidate for president of this division.

Specialty represents around 33% of net sales. The division will be presided over by Ellen Schum, current executive vice president and chief customer officer.

Frozen & Vegetables is 27% of B&G’s net sales. It will be headed by the current director of marketing for Green Giant, Kristen Thompson.

Lastly, Spices & Seasoning represents just 18% of net sales. Jordan Greenberg will assume the presidency of this division. He is currently the executive vice president and chief commercial officer.

As stated above, each of these businesses will have their own decision-making abilities and accountability. These factors will now be counted upon to deal with not only the current inflationary environment, but more permanent issues, such as acquisitions and the capturing of trends. Equally important will be their ability to focus on developing more closely the brands that stand the greatest chance of growth, along with the products that need to be cut away, a strategy currently being employed by more and more major food companies.

“We are reorganizing our company into four business units—establishing clear focus and expectations within the B&G Foods portfolio. These units will define the categories and brands that we will resource and grow, the platforms for future acquisitions, the brands that will run for efficiency and cash flow, and the businesses we may exit over time.”, said B&G president and CEO, Casey Keller.

The restructuring will take place over the next few months. All new leadership appointments will be official as of August 1st of this year. Performance expectations for each unit will be set by late this year.