Keller, known as Casey, succeeds interim chief executive David Wenner at the New Jersey-based firm. Wenner has been in the post since November when Kenneth Romanzi, who had been CEO since April 2019, stepped down to pursue “personal interests”.
Most recently, Keller has worked in the coffee industry as president and CEO of JDE Peet’s but he previously held the position of global president at Mars-owned chewing gum, mints and candy business Wrigley.
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Keller also worked for H.J. Heinz before a merger with Kraft Foods in 2015. He led the ketchup, condiments and sauces division in the US and also served as the CEO of Heinz Italy.
He will take up his new position at the Cream of Wheat and Back to Nature brands owner B&G on 14 June. Wenner will remain a director of the company and will work closely with Keller to ensure a smooth transition.
Stephen Sherrill, chairman of B&G, said: “Casey is a food-and-beverage industry veteran with excellent leadership skills and a proven track record of generating revenue and earnings growth. Casey also has experience with mergers and acquisitions and public company finance, most recently guiding JDE and Peet’s Coffee through a successful merger and post-merger IPO.
“We believe that Casey is the right person to lead B&G Foods and drive our organic and M&A growth strategy, promote our core values, promote our ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] efforts and generate value for our stockholders.”
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By GlobalDataKeller said: “We will continue to focus on organic and acquisition growth, innovation, operational improvements, cost reduction efforts and the creation of stockholder value. At the same time, we will also continue to promote and further enhance B&G Foods’ corporate social responsibility efforts, including the company’s environmental, sustainability and DEI efforts.”
