A leadership change at Eight Fifty Food Group will see the parent company of Karro Pork and Young’s Seafood run by the founder of its new ownership group.
Michael Latifi, the founder and executive chair of Markham, Ontario, Canada Sofina Foods, which purchased Eight Fifty Food Group from international private equity firm CapVest Partners LLP for GBP 1.2 billion (USD 1.7 billion, EUR 1.4 billion) in March 2021, will take over as Eight Fifty’s head of U.K. and European operations.
The company’s former CEO, Dianne Walker, and its former CFO, Michael Kestmont, were let go by Latifi in the leadership change. Walker had headed Karro Pork through its purchase by CapVest in 2017 and its purchase of Young’s Seafood in 2019.
Latifi has built Sofina into one of Canada’s leading manufacturers of protein products for retail and foodservice through brands including Cuddy, Lilydale, Janes, Mastro, San Daniele, Fletcher’s, Vienna, and Zamzam, with total sales of nearly USD 300 million (EUR 258.6 million) in 2020. Latifi said in a press release the leadership change was made to “forge ahead with integration and grow our business,” which has an estimated annual revenue of around CAD 6 billion (USD 4.9 billion, EUR 4.2 billion).
“I have spent considerable time learning about our U.K. and European operations with the objective of developing my priorities for growth. I am pleased to announce that I will assume leadership of the Sofina U.K. and European business, allowing me to pursue vigorously our vision to be the most successful food company in the world. In this respect I am fortunate to have the considerable business and leadership expertise of Steve Ellis and Simon Smith, who respectively lead the Karro Pork and Young’s Seafood businesses. Together, we will continue the integration and implement Sofina’s strategy for the U.K. business while providing our customers with the best possible service in these challenging times,” he said.
Walker and Kestemont “will continue to provide advice and counsel” to the company, Latifi said. Ellis and Smith, who was recently appointed as a director of Eight Fifty, will remain in their positions, Latifi said.
Eight Fifty Food Group also operates Hamburg, Germany-headquartered AliSa International GmbH, which trades as Greenland Seafood, which was acquired by CapVest in October 2020.
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