Smithfield Foods appoints COO as part of restructuring efforts

Smithfield Foods has made a raft of changes to its leadership structure in a move to unify all its operations, brands, and more than 54,000 employees globally under one corporate umbrella.

Virginia-headquartered Smithfield said the new structure aims to in infuse innovative ideas in all aspects of the company and heighten its strategic focus.

The restructuring includes the addition of a chief operating officer, a position held by Dennis Organ.

This new role oversees and unifies all Smithfield’s domestic business operations management, including the company’s hog production, fresh pork, and packaged meats businesses. Organ is responsible for strategic development, day-to-day operations and improvement of the Smithfield’s US businesses.

Gregg Schmidt will remain president of US hog production until his retirement at the end of 2019. Brady Stewart, formerly vice president and general manager of Kansas City Sausage Company and Pine Ridge Farms, which Smithfield acquired in 2017, will work with Schmidt for the next year and succeed him upon his retirement.

Smithfield has also created a chief commercial officer of packaged meats position that has been filled by John Pauley, who has been with the company for 18 years.

Kenneth Sullivan, chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods, said: “Guided by our principles of responsibility, operational excellence, and innovation, our new optimised structure and leadership team will further ignite our potential as ‘One Smithfield’ by allowing us to better identify and seek out opportunities to improve our business, including ways to work smarter, serve customers better, and make Smithfield the best of the best.”

Last month, Smithfield invested more than $100 million to create a new distribution centre in Tar Heel, North Carolina, and spent nearly $45 million to grow its operations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.