Premier Foods poaches Kraft’s Mike Clarke as CEO
Premier Foods, owner of Hovis and Mr Kipling, has appointed Mike Clarke, currently president of Kraft Foods Europe, as its chief executive officer.
Current CEO, Robert Schofield, is retiring from the company. Clarke will join Premier Foods in September.
The appointment is likely to be welcomed by shareholders as the company’s share price has underperformed for several months and severely dipped last month after Premier Foods issued a profit warning.
Premier Foods is preparing to launch a raft of product extensions over the coming months under its Hovis, Mr Kipling and Loyd Grossman brands to accelerate growth.
Prior to joining Kraft Foods Europe in 2009, Clarke was the president of The Coca-Cola Company in Northwest Europe – which includes the UK – and the Nordics.
Kraft will replace Clarke with Timothy Cofer, who is currently senior vice president of the company’s global chocolate category team.
