Secaucus, New Jersey-based Freshpet Inc. appointed industry veterans Lynn Bingham and William “Willie” Everett to support its future growth and development.
Lynn Bingham joins Freshpet as VP, strategic quality and process development, reporting to Stephen Weise, EVP of manufacturing and supply chain. Bingham will be responsible for leading manufacturing process improvement and quality assurance. A team of quality and technical resources will report to him.
Willie Everett joins Freshpet as GM, Midwest manufacturing expansion, also reporting to Weise. He will lead the development and buildout of Freshpet’s Midwest manufacturing facility capacity expansion slated for startup in fiscal 2022.
“We are excited to welcome Lynn and Willie to the Freshpet team as we continually expand our fresh pet food manufacturing expertise and scale to further our competitive advantage,” says Billy Cyr, Freshpet’s CEO. “Lynn brings a proven track record of process, innovation and quality expertise with an emphasis on sourcing high-quality fresh protein ingredients and we look forward to his contributions to our manufacturing team. Additionally, as we make progress on our Midwest manufacturing expansion, Willie will play an integral role in leading site selection, design and development to support our strong consumer demand and future growth—fulfilling our mission of providing more pets with fresh all-natural foods that enrich their lives and the relationships with their pet parents, and doing so in ways that are good for our pets, for people and for our planet.”
Bingham has nearly 35 years of engineering, product innovation, process, food safety and quality experience, including various leadership roles at Bil-Jac Foods Inc., Win-Hy Foods Inc. and PepsiCo’s Pizza Hut division. Prior to joining Freshpet, he was VP of innovation and new process development at Bil-Jac Foods Inc., a privately held manufacturer and marketer of diets and treats for pets with distribution in the U.S. and internationally, where he led three facilities. Bingham also created numerous food safety innovations. During his tenure at Win-Hy Foods Inc., he led strategy, planning, production, and fresh pet ingredient procurement. He has a degree in mechanical engineering and Asian studies from Brigham Young University. Bingham will be based at the Freshpet Kitchens in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Everett has held several supply chain and operational leadership roles over the last 20 years at New Barn Organics, Crystal Creamery, Hostess Brands, Premium Waters Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America. Earlier in his career, he worked at both Hill’s Science Diet and Frito-Lay. Most recently, he served as EVP, supply chain for New Barn Organics, an organic plant-based food company, where he led operations and supply chain. He was VP, operations and distribution at Crystal Creamery and SVP of operations at Hostess Brands, where he led the multi-million dollar businesses in managing production, distribution and procurement across several facilities to drive operating efficiencies. He has a degree in business administration from Drury University. Everett will initially be working at the Freshpet Kitchens in Bethlehem, and will relocate to the future site of the Freshpet Midwest expansion and lead the startup of that site.
