Campbell Soup shuffles CFO to president

Dive Brief:

Campbell Soup is one of the latest companies on the hunt for a new finance chief, with the food company announcing Tuesday that current CFO Mick Beekhuizen was pivoting to take on the role of president of meals and beverages, effective immediately.
While a search is underway for a new CFO, Beekhuizen will continue to serve as finance chief of the Camden, N.J.-based company until a successor is named, according to an SEC filing.
The change comes as Valerie Oswalt, the former president of snacks at the company, informed Campbell Soup last week that she was resigning from her position effective Tuesday, according to the filing. Christopher Foley, previously president of the meals and beverages group, is replacing Oswalt and Beekjuizen in turn is moving to fill Foley’s spot.

Dive Insight:

Beekhuizen took the finance helm in September 2019, just ahead of the pandemic lockdowns which disrupted consumer food habits and preferences.

Prior to joining Campbell Soup, Beekhuizen was formerly CFO of the New Berlin, N.Y.-based yogurt-maker Chobani and earlier in his career he was a managing director in Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division. Beekhuizen is 46, according to a Sept. 22 filing.

In his new role Beekhuizen will lead a $4.6 billion division that includes soup, simple meals and beverages in retail and foodservice in North America while Foley will lead the $3.9 billion snacks division.

Campbell CEO Mark Clouse in a statement said both Beekhuizen and Foley had played significant parts in the company’s transformation over the least several years.

“Mick possesses exceptional strategic thinking and commercial and financial acumen coupled with a focus on operational excellence. He is known for team building and collaboration, which will be instrumental in his new role,“ Clouse said in the statement. “Chris is a proven brand and culture builder with a track record of delivering sustainable growth and developing high-performing teams, which are critical to accelerate the Snacks growth and margin trajectory.”

The move echoed a similar C-suite shift announced Tuesday at luggage DTC company Away. The New York City-based retailer’s CFO Catherine Dunleavy was moving, effective immediately, into the role of president, Industry Dive sister publication Retail Dive reported. The shift also comes amid an uptick in the rate of retail CFOs leaving their posts.