Kodiak Foods Hires Campbell Exec as CEO

Nov. 17, 2022

Fast-growing breakfast-foods company taps its first outsider as chief.

Breakfast-foods company Kodiak Cakes has tapped a veteran of Campbell Soup Co. as its new CEO.

Valerie Oswalt will head Kodiak, replacing co-founders Joel Clark and Cameron Smith, who will transition away from their respective roles as CEO and president. Oswalt has been an executive vice president at Campbell since 2020, most recently serving as president of its snacks division. Before Campbell, Oswalt had been CEO of Century Snacks, a trail mix and nut products company. She has also held positions at Mondelēz International and Coca-Cola.

Kodiak started as a processor of dry mixes for pancakes and waffles, moving later into frozen breakfast foods. Privately held, it claims to have had 30% top-line growth in the last 52 weeks and a 13-percentage-point gain in market share over the last three years.

"It is a privilege to lead a fast-growing, purpose-driven food company built on a mission to inspire healthier eating and active living," Oswalt said in a statement.

About the Author

Pan Demetrakakes | Senior Editor

Pan has written about the food and beverage industry for more than 25 years. His areas of coverage have included formulations, processing, packaging, marketing and retailing. Pan worked for Food Processing Magazine for six years in the 1990s, where he was operations editor (his current role), touring dozens of food plants of every description. He has also worked for Packaging and Food & Beverage Packaging magazines, the latter as chief editor, during which he won three ASBPE awards. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a BA in communications.