Judson Reis, who has been with Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA-headquartered Gorton’s Seafood for more than 29 years, will retire as president and chief executive officer on January 1, 2020. On that date Kurt Hogan will be promoted from vice president of sales to replace him at the helm.
Established in 1849, Gorton’s produces a wide range of frozen retail products including fish sticks, beer battered fish tenders, flounder fillets, popcorn shrimp, crusted salmon and baked cod.
Over the last ten years Reis has successfully guided the company, which is a unit of Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd. of Japan, through a rapidly changing consumer environment, by transforming it into a more agile and customer focused organization.
Under his leadership major investments have been made at the Gloucester factory. At the same time product ingredients have been simplified, health profiles have been improved, core products significantly upgraded, new innovations employed and cross functional teams deployed to better serve clients.
Reis joined Gorton’s in 1990 as an associate marketing manager upon completing his MBA from the Columbia School of Business. After holding several marketing positions, he was promoted to vice president of marketing in 2004 and was named president and chief operating officer in 2009. He has also held leadership positions in the seafood industry as chairman of the National Fisheries Institute and founding chairman of the non-profit Seafood Nutrition Partnership.
“Judson’s storied career enabled him to develop a deep understanding of the factors that drive Gorton’s business success,” said Hogan. “The combination of his work experience, leadership skills, and focus on surpassing consumer expectations makes him someone whose perspective and judgment will be missed.”
Hogan has a track record of strong business judgment and creativity over his 28-year tenure with Gorton’s, which makes him well suited to lead the company in the future.
“Kurt’s knowledge of the drivers of our business, expertise in sales management and customer relationships are especially valuable as we pursue the next phase of growth,” said Reis. “At a time when our industry is experiencing dramatic change to satisfy the evolving needs of today’s consumers, Kurt is the right person to lead the business forward.”
Hogan, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin, joined Gorton’s in 1991 as a field-based regional business manager after spending six years in sales positions with General Foods. In 1995 he transferred to Gloucester to become an area trade planning manager focused on customer marketing. For the next 15 years he held several progressively more impactful sales management positions before being named director of sales in 2010. Two years later he was promoted to vice President of sales, a role he has held for the last seven years.
