Simply Good Foods Announces New Leadership Structure to Drive Immediate and Long-Term Growth
- Stuart Heflin to take full ownership of Quest brand performance and oversee growth initiatives
- Ryan Thomas appointed as Senior VP and General Manager, Atkins marketing
- Linda Zink appointed as Chief Growth Officer
- None.
DENVER, Sept. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) (“Simply Good Foods” or the “Company”), a developer, marketer and seller of branded nutritional foods and snacking products under the Quest™ and Atkins™ brands, today announced changes to its leadership team structure to better support its near and long-term growth objectives. The intent of the change is to promote enhanced support for the Company’s commitment to deliver consistent growth and continuous product innovation across the immediate, mid-range, and long-term horizons, while maintaining operational excellence.
Stuart Heflin, a driving force behind the Quest brand's success since the 2019 acquisition, will continue his outstanding marketing and brand leadership as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Quest marketing. In this role, Mr. Heflin will take full ownership of Quest brand performance and will oversee all of Quest’s marketing and growth initiatives as well as other brand priorities to further strengthen Quest’s leadership position in the nutritional snacking category.
Simply Good Foods is also excited to welcome Ryan Thomas as the new Senior Vice President and General Manager, Atkins marketing. Mr. Thomas brings a wealth of experience, having previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of Post Holdings’ Pet Food business that it acquired from The J.M. Smucker Company on April 28, 2023. Mr. Thomas is a seasoned packaged goods leader and has held pivotal roles in leading portfolios and revitalizing brands at The J.M. Smucker Company, Big Heart Pet Brands and Campbell’s. Additionally, he has deep expertise across brand and strategy development, innovation and marketing communications. In his new capacity, Mr. Thomas will take full accountability for the Atkins brand performance and for reshaping the strategy and growth trajectory of the brand.
The Company has also appointed Linda Zink, an accomplished executive team member, as Chief Growth Officer. Ms. Zink, currently serving as the Company's Chief Marketing Officer, has played an instrumental role in Simply Good Foods' success. Her insights have provided invaluable guidance to both the Quest and Atkins brands. In her new capacity, Ms. Zink will cultivate category insights and multi-year innovation across all product forms, helping to shape Simply Good Foods’ longer-term product portfolio choices and strategy.
All three leaders will sit on the Executive Leadership Team and report directly to Geoff Tanner, President and Chief Executive Officer.
“Collectively, these strategic leadership changes signify Simply Good Foods’ commitment to driving growth both now and in the future,” stated Geoff Tanner, President and CEO. “With these changes, we are balancing executional excellence with long-term growth. I believe the company is poised to elevate its position as a trusted leader in the nutritional snacking category, backed by a team of visionary leaders dedicated to driving growth and pushing boundaries.”
About The Simply Good Foods Company
The Simply Good Foods Company (Nasdaq: SMPL), headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a consumer packaged food and beverage company that aims to lead the nutritious snacking movement with trusted brands that offer a variety of convenient, innovative, great-tasting, better-for-you snacks and meal replacements, and other product offerings. The product portfolio we develop, market and sell consists primarily of protein bars, ready-to-drink (“RTD”) shakes, sweet and salty snacks and confectionery products marketed under the Atkins®, Atkins Endulge®, Quest® and Quest Hero™ brand names. Simply Good Foods is poised to expand its wellness platform through innovation and organic growth along with acquisition opportunities in the nutritional snacking space. For more information, please refer to http://www.thesimplygoodfoodscompany.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made herein are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by or include words such as “will”, “expect”, “intends” or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These statements relate to future events or our future financial or operational performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievement to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We caution that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events, are based on assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding the effect of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to continue to operate at a profit, the sufficiency of our sources of liquidity and capital, our ability to maintain current operation levels, our ability to maintain and gain market acceptance for our products or new products, our ability to capitalize on attractive opportunities, our ability to respond to competition and changes in the economy, unexpected costs, the amounts of or changes with respect to certain anticipated restructuring, raw materials and other costs, difficulties and delays in achieving the synergies and cost savings in connection with the Quest Acquisition, changes in the business environment in which we operate including general financial, economic, capital market, regulatory and political conditions affecting us and the industry in which we operate, unforeseen business disruptions or other effects due to current global geopolitical tensions, including relating to Ukraine, changes in consumer preferences and purchasing habits, our ability to maintain adequate product inventory levels to timely supply customer orders, changes in taxes, tariffs, duties, governmental laws and regulations, the availability of or competition for other brands, assets or other opportunities for investment by us or to expand our business, competitive product and pricing activity, difficulties of managing growth profitably, the loss of one or more members of our management team, expansion of our wellness platform and other risks and uncertainties indicated in the Company’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, and Form 8-K reports (including all amendments to those reports) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. In addition, forward-looking statements provide the Company’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after such date and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.
Investor Contact
Mark Pogharian
Vice President, Investor Relations, Treasury and Business Development
The Simply Good Foods Company
(720) 768-2681
mpogharian@simplygoodfoodsco.com
Media Contact
Jennifer Livingston
Director, PR & Social Media
The Simply Good Foods Company
(303) 620-8148
jlivingston@simplygoodfoodsco.com
