Dallas, Texas-based Dean Foods Co. has appointed Eric Beringause president and CEO and a member of the Dean Foods Board of Directors, effective July 29. Beringause succeeds Ralph Scozzafava, who has stepped down as CEO and resigned from his position on the board.
Beringause has more than 30 years of transformational leadership and operational experience at a broad range of blue-chip brands in the food, beverage and consumer products industries, including expertise in food processing and branded and contract manufacturing. Most recently, he served as CEO of Gehl Foods LLC, a market-leading producer of dairy-based beverages and food products. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Advanced Refreshment LLC, one of the largest U.S. producers of private-label bottled water and water-based beverages, and as CEO of Sturm Foods Inc., a leader in private-label food products, specialty food brands and contract manufacturing.
Earlier in his career, Beringause held various business development, finance, and sales and marketing roles at Alcoa Consumer Products, Gerber Infant & Baby Products, ConAgra, Inc./Grist Mill, Nestle Inc., Nabisco Brands and The Pillsbury Co.
“We believe Eric is the right leader to drive the transformation of the business as the company continues to execute on its enterprise-wide cost productivity plan and its previously announced exploration of strategic alternatives,” said Jim Turner, non-executive chairman of the Dean Foods Board. “He has a long track record of creating value in dairy and consumer products companies, as well as a unique combination of turnaround and operational expertise.”
“I am honored to join Dean Foods at this important juncture,” said Beringause. “Dean Foods is the nation’s largest dairy processor and a leader in the industry, and I am excited to work with the board and management team to leverage our scale and substantial assets to realize the significant opportunities available to transform our company. My top priority will be to ensure we have the right footprint and strategies in place to drive sustainable growth and profitability for the benefit of our shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders.”
Turner and the board thanked Scozzafava for his service and contributions to Dean Foods over the past five years. “We appreciate his dedication to the company and we wish him all the best in the future,” Turner said.
Q2 earnings to be announced
The company will host a live webcast of its second quarter 2019 earnings conference call on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. The webcast is expected to last approximately one hour and will be accessible by visiting http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/investor-relations/ and by clicking “Webcasts.”
The webcast will be accessible on most operating systems and browsers. A webcast replay will be available for approximately 45 days following the event within the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website.
Dean Foods is a leading food and beverage company and the largest processor and direct-to-store distributor of fresh fluid milk and other dairy and dairy case products in the United States. The Dean Foods portfolio includes DairyPure and TruMoo, along with well-known regional dairy brands such as Alta Dena, Berkeley Farms, Country Fresh, Dean’s, Friendly’s, Garelick Farms, Land O Lakes milk and cultured products, Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms, Mayfield, McArthur, Meadow Gold, Oak Farms, PET, T.G. Lee, Tuscan® and more. Dean Foods also has a joint venture with Organic Valley, distributing fresh organic products to local retailers. In all, Dean Foods has more than 50 national, regional and local dairy brands as well as private labels. Dean Foods also makes and distributes ice cream, cultured products, juices, teas, and bottled water.
