Freshpet, Inc. Names William Cyr as Chief Executive Officer

On Jul 28, 2016

Secaucus-based Freshpet, Inc. has named veteran consumer packaged goods executive William (“Billy”) Cyr as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, effective September 6, 2016. The company also expects that Cyr will join the company’s Board of Directors at that time.

Cyr joins Freshpet with more than 30 years of experience in key consumer packaged foods leadership roles at Sunny Delight Beverages Company and Procter & Gamble Company. Most recently, he served for almost 12 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunny Delight, a leading producer, distributor and marketer of juices, juice drinks and flavored waters in North America serving a wide range of customers in the grocery, club, mass merchandise, convenience, dollar and drug channels.  While at Sunny Delight, Mr. Cyr managed and oversaw the Company’s multi-national operations, building a team of over 600 employees with operations in eight countries and successfully engineered the Company’s turnaround plan returning the Company to growth and profitability.

Charlie Norris, Chairman of the Freshpet Board of Directors, commented, “After an extensive search, we are delighted that Billy Cyr will join us as Chief Executive Officer of Freshpet. Billy is a highly accomplished consumer packaged goods executive with strong experience in leading brands that have a refrigerated supply chain and we welcome his leadership, brand and innovation expertise as we continue to gain share in existing retailers and expand into new retail partners in North America and abroad. We have every confidence Billy has the right combination of strategic leadership and personnel skills to lead Freshpet into a new phase of growth and build value for our stockholders. In addition, we are grateful to Walt George and Scott Morris for their strong leadership during this time of transition.”

Scott Morris, Freshpet’s President, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, commented, “Billy will bring extensive experience and great leadership to the Freshpet team. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion around innovation and disruption fits well with our strong culture of growth. We look forward to him helping us reach the fullest potential of the company, creating the next horizon for Freshpet and achieving our mission to improve the lives of pets by bringing them the power of fresh, natural food.”

Cyr brings a strong track record of strategic leadership to Freshpet. Over his nearly 20-year tenure at Procter & Gamble beginning in 1985, Cyr held numerous senior executive roles including most recently serving as Vice President and General Manager of the North American Juice Business and Global Nutritional Beverages. In this position, he led a team of more than 500 employees across five manufacturing facilities and two continents.  He also led brand growth and marketing over the years for leading packaged foods brands including Crisco and Duncan Hines. Cyr served as a Board and Executive Committee Member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a position he held since 2002. Additionally, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of American Beverage Association since 2007 and on the Executive Committee since 2012.

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead Freshpet and join a strong team with significant experience in the pet food industry,” said Cyr.  “I have admired the Freshpet brand and its differentiated pet food products and believe that we have tremendous opportunity for future growth both domestically and internationally. I look forward to working with Scott, our leadership team and employees to realize the growth potential of Freshpet.”

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