CONSUMER BRANDS - Key Persons
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Bush Brothers & Company
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- President and Chief Business Officer, North America, Ferrero
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- Director, Human Resources
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chief Executive Officer, Freshpet, Inc
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, McCormick & Company, Inc
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Nissin Foods USA
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, B & G Foods, Inc
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- Senior Vice President U.S. Nutrition, Abbott Nutrition
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- Senior Director, Marketing
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- Manager, Campaigns & Special Projects
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Idahoan Foods, LLC
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, J & J Snack Foods
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, BellRing Brands, Inc.
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- Chief Executive Officer
- President
David Chavern is president and CEO of Consumer Brands Association, the trade association for America's $2.1 trillion food, beverage and consumer products industry. Chavern joined the Consumer Brands Association in January 2023 after a seven-year tenure as president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, the news industry's leading trade organization, where he rebranded the association and broadened its print focus to include digital media. Chavern also oversaw a merger with the Association of Magazine Media.
Chavern has been named in The Hill's "Top Lobbyists" and was one of the Washingtonian's "250 Most Influential People."
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- Chief Executive Officer, Schwan 's Company
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- Managing Director
- Senior Vice President
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- Executive Vice President, North America, Hygiene, Reckitt
President Franklin D. Roosevelt tasked association official Clare Francis of General Foods to ensure that all U.S. factories were contributing to the war effort, serving more than 12 million soldiers at their posts around the globe. FDR also tapped numerous association officials to help coordinate the nation's food supply at home and abroad.
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- Chief Executive Officer, WK Kellogg Co
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Molson Coors Beverage Company
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- Executive Vice President of Industry
- Executive Vice President, Industry Engagement
Genna Gent is the executive vice president of industry engagement of the Consumer Brands Association. In this role, she serves as the organization's strategic engineer for products, sales and business growth. Responsible for cultivating experiences that drive industry engagement and value, Gent oversees areas of Membership, Industry Solutions and Meetings & Events, including Consumer Brands' flagship events, CPG Summit and CPG Legal Forum.
Gent joined the Consumer Brands Association in May 2023 after serving as the vice president of global public policy & government relations at McDonald's, where she led a team of government relations and public affairs specialists in the U.S. and internationally, working to influence public policy, representing the business before governments and NGOs and bringing external public policy insights into the McDonald's business.
Prior to joining McDonald's, Gent was senior vice president of government affairs for the American Beverage Association where she developed advocacy strategies for the country's non-alcoholic beverage industry before Congress, state legislatures and local governments across the country. In her previous role, she oversaw all aspects of integrated public affairs campaigns in more than a dozen states and cities.
Historically, Gent served as deputy chief of staff and Washington, D.C. office director to then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. The longest-serving member of the Granholm administration, she began her tenure as a speechwriter to the then-attorney general, later as communications director to the governor's two campaigns and finally served as deputy chief of staff for communications and strategic planning in Granholm's gubernatorial administrations. Prior to her work in state government, Gent worked in the private sector, providing public relations counsel to corporate clients in Michigan and the Midwest.
A runner and aspiring "foodie," Genna graduated from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan and lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband and two children.
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- Senior Director, State Affairs
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Del Monte Foods, Inc
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- Executive Vice President and President, North America, Mondelēz International, Inc
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Moody Dunbar, Inc
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- Senior Vice President of U.S. Dairy Foods, Land O'Lakes, Inc
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- Chairman, Harvest Hill Beverage Company
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- Chief Executive Officer, Utz Brands Inc
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- Senior Director, Regulatory & Technical Affairs
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, General Mills, Inc
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- President, North America Division, Colgate - Palmolive Company
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hormel Foods Corporation
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- Vice President of Communications
Jocelyn Kelly is the vice president of communications of the Consumer Brands Association, overseeing the strategy for public positioning and messaging on behalf of the CPG industry, as well as earned and digital media, research activity, paid media campaigns, thought leadership and marketing.
Kelly joined Consumer Brands in February 2023 after serving as the chief of staff of public affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).
Prior to joining PhRMA, Kelly was the executive director of regional corporate communications for MGM Resorts International. She also spent nine years with the American Petroleum Institute (API), where she oversaw strategic communications and paid media.
Kelly began her career on Capitol Hill and has also worked at U.S. News & World Report and a boutique Denver-based public relations agency.
Kelly graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is from Arlington, Virginia and currently resides there with her husband, two children and dog.
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Lakeside Foods
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- Vice President
- Vice President, Packaging Sustainability
John Hewitt is vice president, packaging sustainability, at the Consumer Brands Association. Hewitt leads the packaging sustainability efforts on behalf of the CPG industry, bringing extensive knowledge of the recycling system and years of state and federal policy experience.
With a combination of association, political and agency experience, Hewitt has worked on many successful ballot initiatives, legislative and regulatory measures. In addition to his professional experience, he has sat on several non-profit boards and was an elected school board member for nearly 12 years.
Hewitt joined the Consumer Brands Association from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where he served as both special counsel to the secretary and as the agency's general counsel. At the department, Hewitt was responsible for complex litigation and regulatory matters as well as represented the department on interagency initiatives, such as the governor's drought task force and international climate change program.
Prior to CDFA Hewitt worked at the California Farm Bureau, where he played a key role in developing strategic water quality initiatives, including managing activities with local and state regulators as well as litigation development.
A native of Northern California, Hewitt graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, with a bachelor's degree in agricultural business and a minor in water science. Hewitt also holds a juris doctor from the University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law and is admitted to practice law by the California Bar as well as the United States Supreme Court. He lives in Pleasant Grove, California, and enjoys cooking family meals using his favorite CPG products - especially hot sauce.
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- Deputy General Counsel
- Vice President
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- Director, Government Affairs
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- Senior Manager, Meetings & Events
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- Vice President, Operations
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- Senior Manager, Member Engagement & Insight
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- Chief Executive Officer, Ripple Foods
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- Vice President, Consumer Experience, Georgia - Pacific LLC
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- Manager, Content Strategy
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- Policy Manager, Packaging Sustainability
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- Chairman of the Executive Committee
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- Chief Executive Officer, Sargento Foods Inc
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Morgan Foods, Inc
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- Director & Asst. General Counsel, Consumer Brands Association / Operations & Initiatives
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- Vice President, Regulatory & Technical Affairs
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- Chief Executive Officer, Ferrara
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- Vice President, Revenue & Membership Growth
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Campbell Soup Company
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- Chief Commercial and Supply Chain Officer, the Coca - Cola Company
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- Chairman of the Executive Committee
- Vice - Chair
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Church & Dwight Co., Inc
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- Policy Manager, Product Policy
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- Vice President, Federal Affairs
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- Program Development Specialist, SmartLabel, Consumer Brands Association / Legal Counsel
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- President, North America, the Procter & Gamble Company
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Post
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- Senior Vice President and President, Kellanova North America
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Tillamook County Creamery Association
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- Executive Vice President & President, North America, the Kraft Heinz Company
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- Corporate Senior Vice President Henkel Consumer Brands, North America, Henkel
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- Executive Vice President, Public Affairs
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Rich 's Products
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- Senior Director, SmartLabel
Rose M. Knox took over a troubled new business, Knox Gelatin, in 1908 when her husband died, becoming one of the first women to head a large U.S. company. She began an innovative program of marketing to women and became one of the first to introduce the then-revolutionary five-day work week, paid vacations and sick leave. Knox survived the Depression without laying off a single employee. She remained president of the company until her 90th birthday, retaining her chairmanship until her death in 1950 at age 93. She joined the association's board of directors in 1924, becoming the first woman to ever serve on a major national board. At age 85 she was honored at the association's executive conference with a standing ovation that lasted four minutes.
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- President, North American Consumer Business, Kimberly - Clark Corporation
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Flowers Foods, Inc
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- Chief Executive Officer, Diageo North America
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- Specialist, Digital Communications
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- Director, Regulatory & Technical Affairs
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- Vice President, Product Policy
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Conagra Brands, Inc
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- Group Deputy CEO, CEO Americas and EVP Dairy, Plant - Based and Global Sales, Danone
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- Chief Operating Officer
- General Counsel
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo Foods North America
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- Chief Operating Officer, Keurig Dr Pepper
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
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- Vice President, Campaigns & Special Projects
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- Director, Executive Office Administration
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- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Milo 's Tea Company
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- President and Chief Executive Officer, the Hain Celestial Group, Inc
President Woodrow Wilson tasked the association with creating a war committee to coordinate food production efforts to feed the troops and Allies. The efforts paid off - between 1917 and 1918, food companies tripled their peacetime production.
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- Co - President, McCall Farms