Land O’ Lakes Inc. Names New Executive VP of Dairy Foods

A former Cargill executive is joining Land O’ Lakes Inc. as the executive vice president of the company’s dairy foods business, the Arden Hills, MN company announced Thursday.

Chris Roberts, who formerly served as president of Cargill’s Value Added Proteins division, will assume his role at Land O’ Lakes on Feb. 6, 2017, reporting to Beth Ford, group executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Purina Animal Nutrition and U.S. Dairy Foods businesses. Ford also manages supply chain and operations, information technology, and R&D for Land O’ Lakes Inc.

“We’re excited to welcome Chris Roberts to Land O’ Lakes,” said Ford in a statement. “Chris is a best-in-class leader, known to drive innovation, and brings both commodity and branded goods experience. We firmly believe Chris’ strong leadership will help Land O’ Lakes accelerate into our next business phase positioned for faster and more competitive growth.”

At Cargill, Roberts was in charge of the integration of two existing businesses, building and implementing a sustainable growth policy, fostering employee engagement, and more. He has also held leadership roles at PepsiCo and The Coca Cola Company.

“I look forward to joining Land O’ Lakes for three distinct reasons – the people, the brands, and the mission,” said Roberts in the release. “I am joining the people of Land O’ Lakes at a critical point in the company’s growth trajectory. I look forward to driving deeper consumer affinity for the wonderful Land O’ Lakes brands. And, finally, joining in our collective quest to feed human progress.”

Land O’ Lakes said the hire holds more significance than a simple personnel change.

“The move marks the re-unification of all Land O’ Lakes Dairy businesses, including the global powder organization, under one executive in a new position for the company,” Land O’ Lakes said in the release.

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