SNAC International, the trade association formerly known as the Snack Food Association, has announced that a new CEO will take the helm next year.
Christine Cochran, executive director of the Grain Foods Foundation, will succeed Elizabeth Avery, who will retire next March after five years heading SNAC. Cochran will join SNAC on Feb. 1 and formally take over after the conclusion of SNX, the association’s new education and collaboration forum, March 27-29.
Cochran has headed the Grain Foods Foundation for nine years. Before that, she worked for the Commodity Markets Council, as head of that organization’s government affairs program and then, since 2010, as its president. She holds a law degree from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri.
A search committee, consisting of representatives from snack processing companies like PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, as well as ingredient and packaging suppliers, worked for five months on SNAC’s CEO succession.
“Christine Cochran is a dynamic leader of membership organizations with a deep knowledge of nutrition and a proven track record in government advocacy, coalition-building and strategic planning,” Mike Harper, chief financial officer of Rudolph Foods and chairman of the search committee, said in a statement. “We believe Christine is the right leader to build on the momentum established by Elizabeth’s highly successful tenure.”