People Moves: Boulder Brands, Acosta and Free2b Foods Announce Key Leadership Hires

Following the departure of Phil Anson as Interim General Manager of newly acquired Boulder Brands, Pinnacle Foods announced the appointment of Michael Allen as Executive Vice President and President, Boulder Brands. Allen’s appointment is effective Sept. 19.

Allen brings a strong background with CPG brands to the company, having spent over 15 years at The Kellogg Company, where his roles included President, Morning Food Division (which includes the company’s US Cereal, Pop-Tarts and Kashi Businesses), President, Frozen Foods and Senior Vice President Marketing, Kellogg’s Snacks Division.

Acosta, a full service sales and marketing agency for CPG Brands, announced yesterday that it has appointed Steve Matthesen to the dual role of President and CEO. Matthesen brings with him a robust background in analytics and strategy, having most recently served as President of Global Retail at The Nielsen Company. Prior to his time at Nielsen, Matthesen was a partner at The Boston Consulting Group where he worked with leading CPG brands to develop and execute strategic plans.

Current President and CEO Robert Hill will become Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and continue to work with Acosta customers.

Free2b Foods has added CPG veteran Mike Murray as CEO of the brand. Founded roughly eight years ago, the brand focuses on allergy-friendly treats and produces a line of chocolate bars and chocolate cups.

Murray has the unique experience of working with food brands catering to individuals with food allergies. He most recently served as Commercial Director at So Delicious Dairy Free. where he helped integrate the brand with its 2014 acquirer, White Wave. Previously Murray was VP of Marketing and R&D at So Delicious, where he played a key role in the brand’s growth from $50 million to $150 million. Murray also spent over ten years at General Mills on the Brand Management team.

Meanwhile, Chosen Foods, a producer of foods made with healthy fats, plant based proteins and ancient superfoods, has announced Gabriel Perez-Krieb as the new Chairman of the Board. He succeeds Chosen Foods founder Carsten Hagen in this role.

Perez-Krieb is also the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Kuantum Brands, which develops, manufactures and distributes functional beverages, organic and non-GMO CPG products. Most beneficial for Chosen Foods, whose portfolio includes a variety of oil and chia based products, Perez-Krieb is the President of Sesajal, a Mexican producer of seeds, nuts and oils.

General Mills announced several key leadership appointments, most notably Jon Nudi as SVP; President, U.S. Retail. Nudi has been with the company since his graduation from Penn State University in 1993. Previously Nudi ran Mills’ Europe-Australasia business and earlier served as President of the U.S. Snacks Division.

Finally, Sterling-Rice Group, a brand consultancy and creative agency, added two new additions to its team. Elizabeth Moskow will join the group as the newest Culinary Director. In her role, Moskow will help oversee SRG’s Culinary Practice — which counts top CPG brands including Annie’s, Sabra and Dave’s Killer Bread as clients. Moskow has a robust background working with food brands and companies, having served as a food critic and journalist for a number of years.

SRG also added Tim Streeb as the company’s Managing Director of Marketing and PR. Streeb will focus his efforts on marketing SRG itself as well as overseeing the firm’s PR. Streeb comes to SRG from Linhart PR, a communications strategy firm, where his clients included Chipotle, Comcast, FirstBank and more.