Hain Celestial Group today announced a new president/CEO, Wendy Davidson, as current Pres/CEO Mark Schiller transitions to a non-executive director on the board. The changes are effective Jan. 1.
Davidson has quite a pedigree in consumer packaged goods, most recently as president of the Americas for Glanbia Performance Nutrition, “where she delivered strong results in a post-pandemic recovery while integrating several acquired brands into a single operating model,” the Hain Celestial announcement said. Previously, she was president of the away from home (formerly U.S. Specialty Channels) unit for Kellogg Co., and also held executive roles at McCormick & Co. and Tyson Foods Inc.
In thanking Schiller for his four-year tenure as CEO, said Dawn Zier, chairman of the board, said, “Mark has played an instrumental role in simplifying the company and instilling greater operational discipline throughout the organization, and we are foundationally stronger as a result. We look forward to his continued contributions and insights as a member of our board.
“We are excited to welcome Wendy as our new CEO. Her global CPG experience and successful track record in driving growth, reducing complexity, and developing talent are key to accelerating the transformative work that the leadership team has undertaken to launch our Hain 3.0 strategy,” added Zier.
Schiller in 2018 inherited a complex company, certainly focused on “natural” products but including food, beverages, and even personal care items. With mostly divestitures but a few acquisitions, he made it a smaller, focused but more profitable food-only company. In his tenure, Hain sold or eliminated 23 brands and 1,000 SKUs with almost $1 billion in sales.
For its fiscal 2022 (ended June 30, 2022) net sales decreased 4.0% to $1,892 million, but net income inched up to $78 million, compared to $66 million in the prior year.
