8/27/22

It was back in June that we reported on the Kellogg Company’s decision to split into three separate businesses, however, it was unknown at the time as to who would be appointed to lead roles in each of the three.

But this week, Kellogg announced six new c-suite appointments, all of them making up the team that will lead the North America Cereal Co.

Taking the reigns as CEO is Gary Pilnick, a 22-year Kellogg veteran. He is currently the Vice Chairman, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Kellogg Company, the latter of which is what puts him in a great spot to run this new business. Not only that, but he was one of the top executives leading the way toward separation. His role as CLO gives him access to virtually every aspect of the company and has placed him in a variety of situations few other executives have experienced.

The man holding the purse strings of the North America Cereal Co. will be Dave McKinstray, a 15-year company man that has held two previous CFO positions within Kellogg and is currently the Vice President of Integrated Business Planning.

The Chief Supply Chain Officer position will be filled by Sherry Brice-Williamson. She brings almost 25 years of supply chain management experience, 14 of which come from Procter & Gamble. Starting out as an operations team member with P&G in 1998, she worked her way up and is currently Vice President of Global Food Safety and Quality.

Doug VanDeVelde started out with Procter & Gamble back in 1987, moving over to Kellogg 10 years later as Marketing Director to the VP. His time at Kellogg has seen him almost exclusively dealing with the marketing of snacks and cereals. In fact, according to the company, there is no one in the business that knows more about breakfast cereals than VanDeVelde. Currently the General Manager of of US Cereal, he will serve as Chief Growth Officer.

It would seem the obvious choice to give Bruce Brown the role of Chief Customer Officer, considering he already serves as Vice President of Customer Strategy and Planning, but it shouldn’t diminish the decision. With 35 years in sales, working for Dial and then Cadbury-Schweppes, he came to Kellogg in 1997 and has worked almost entirely in cereal and snacks since, covering a variety of leadership roles.

Lastly, we come to Shannon Bible, the appointee to Chief Transformation Officer. She, “plays a leading role in managing the separation of Kellogg into three independent companies”, currently serving as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives. Her eight years at the company has seen her work largely within legal counsel and transitional services, giving her a wealth of experience in smoothing out upheavals.

Again, this is just the executive team for one of the three offshoot Kellogg companies. We will have to wait to find out who will be leading Global Snacking Co. and Plant Co., however, it likely will not be long as we quickly approach the end of the year. When it does happen, we will be there to report it.