Sofina Foods Europe has announced the strengthening of its leadership team as part of continued commitment to drive growth, innovation, and operational excellence across of its European operations. The new appointments bring extensive industry experience and leadership expertise to the company, as detailed below.
• Helen Watts (seen in the center of the above photo) joins Sofina as chief people officer, following a distinguished career with McCain Foods spanning 18 years in multiple senior roles, building organizational capability to drive performance and developing employee value propositions to attract the retain top talent.
• James Pirie (pictured at left in above photo) joins the company as chief commercial officer after 14 years in senior commercial and operational roles with Arla, gaining extensive experience in delivering category growth, sustainable supply chain solutions from farm to shelf, and developing long term customer partnerships.
• Stuart Herd (seen at right in photo above) come aboard as chief growth officer. He joins following a stellar 20-year career with McCain Foods in a newly created role, bringing a wealth of experience winning with customers and transforming category growth around the world. His proven track record on customer focus, category leadership and commercial excellence across the retail, foodservice and QSR channels will be fundamental to accelerating Sofina’s growth agenda.
“These appointments mark an exciting step forward as we strengthen our leadership team,” said CEO Ash Amirahmadi. “To attract the caliber of leadership that Helen, James and Stuart bring underlines the scale of our ambition. They will be instrumental in driving our objectives and helping us achieve our ambitious vision to be the most successful food company in the world.”
Headquartered in Malton, North Yorkshire, England, Sofina Foods Europe is part of Sofina Foods Inc., the privately owned Canadian company headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Ir operates 21 manufacturing sites across the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France, employing approximately 8,000 people. As well as the production of own label muti-protein products, its portfolio of brands includes Young’s Seafood, Greenland Seafood, Carroll’s of Tullamore and Cookstown.
Sofina’s pork division is a leading processor and supplier of pork products across the UK and Ireland. The seafood division is a provider of frozen and chilled products across Britain, including the iconic 200-year-old Young’s brand, and Greenland Seafood, which supplies over 35 countries in mainland Europe.
