Sofina Foods Europe is pleased to announce the strengthening of its leadership team as part of its continued commitment to driving growth, innovation, and operational excellence across its European operations.

The new appointments bring extensive industry experience and leadership expertise, reinforcing Sofina Foods Europe’s bold strategic vision of becoming the most successful food company in the world.

Stuart Herd joins Sofina Foods in a newly created global role of Chief Growth Officer.

Reporting to Brent Quartermain, CEO, Sofina Foods, Stuart’s first assignment will be to collaborate with James to drive Sofina’s ambitious commercial strategy across Europe.

Stuart joins Sofina following 20 years with McCain Foods, with a track record of delivering customer focus, category leadership and commercial excellence across the retail, foodservice and quick service restaurant (QSR) channels, which will be fundamental to accelerating Sofina’s growth agenda.

Helen Watts joins Sofina as Chief People Officer.

Helen joins Sofina as Chief People Officer following a distinguished career with McCain Foods, spanning 18 years in multiple senior people roles, building organisational capability to drive performance and developing employee value propositions to attract and retain the best talent.

James Pirie takes over as Chief Commercial Officer.

Following 14 years in senior commercial and operational roles with Arla, James joins Sofina Foods Europe as Chief Commercial Officer.

During his time with Arla, James gained extensive experience in delivering category growth, sustainable supply chain solutions, from farm to shelf, and developing long term customer partnerships.

“These appointments mark an exciting step forward for Sofina Foods Europe as we strengthen our leadership team,” said Ash Amirahmadi, Chief Executive Officer, Sofina Foods Europe.

“To attract the calibre of leadership that Helen, James and Stuart bring underlines the scale of our ambition. Together they bring a wealth of experience and expertise that will be instrumental in driving our objectives and helping us achieve our ambitious vision to be the most successful food company in the world.”

Sofina Foods Europe, headquartered in Malton, North Yorkshire, operates 21 manufacturing sites across the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France, employing approximately 8,000 people.

As well as the production of own label muti-protein products, Sofina’s portfolio of brands includes Young’s Seafood, Greenland Seafood, Carroll’s of Tullamore, Cookstown, and Rib World.

For further information, please contact Daniel.gregory@sofinafoods.co.uk