Utz Brands Names New CFO and New EVP of Sales, Chief Customer Officer

April 17, 2025

William Kelley Jr. will step in on the financial side, while Jeremy Stuart will take over the sales/customer role.

Utz Brands Inc. has announced two executive leadership changes.

First, the company has named William J. Kelley Jr. to be its executive vice president, chief financial officer and principal accounting officer, effective May 1, 2025. Kelley succeeds Ajay Kataria, who will step down from the same position on that date but will assist Kelley through the transition period ending May 31.

Kataria departs after four years as CFO (eight total with the company), overseeing the company’s public listing in 2025, multiple acquisitions and integrations and a major ERP installation.

Kelley joins Utz from Tropicana Brands Group Inc., where he most recently acted as global chief financial officer. Prior to his time at Tropicana, he held senior leadership positions at TreeHouse Foods Inc., including executive vice president and CFO. He also worked in finance leadership at Kraft Heinz, Hillshire Brands, USG Corp. and PepsiAmericas.

Utz also announced that Mark Schreiber, executive vice president, Sales, and chief customer officer, will retire on May 31, 2025, with current senior vice president, Large Format, Jeremy Stuart, succeeding him. Schreiber has been with Utz since 2017 and held multiple roles in sales and marketing.

Stuart joined the company in September 2023 and has since added responsibilities in Digital Commerce and Value, Food Service, and Vending to his role in Large Format. He previously held senior sales roles at The Coca-Cola Co., including leading strategic planning and commercial advice with two of Coca-Cola’s largest North American bottlers, and serving as a global vice president for Costco and vice president for Publix businesses.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.