The management shake-up at SunOpta Inc. continued Monday, with the global organic food company revealing the name of its new president and CEO.

David Colo, a former executive at Diamond Foods who helped engineer the $1.9 billion sale of the snack foods company last year, started as SunOpta's chief executive on Monday. He will also become a member of the company's board of directors.

Meanwhile, Katrina Houde, who had served as interim CEO since Rik Jacobs stepped down from the position Nov. 11, will continue as a member of the company's board of directors, a position she has held since 2000.

Among the employees Colo will lead are 114 people who work at the company's manufacturing facility on Daniels Drive in Upper Macungie Township. Ontario-based SunOpta opened a consumer foods plant there in 2012 and, in 2015, completed a $25 million expansion of the facility to include aseptic processing capabilities.

"I'm honored and grateful to the board for the opportunity to lead SunOpta," Colo said in a news release. "Having worked in the industry for many years, I have long respected SunOpta's business and talented employees. The company has tremendous potential and I look forward to continuing the value creation plan set forth by the board."

It's been a busy last several months at SunOpta, starting in late June when the company announced it had hired financial and legal advisers to support a review of the company's operating plan and evaluate a range of strategic actions that could maximize shareholder value. That announcement came about a month after Tourbillon Capital Partners, then SunOpta's largest shareholder, urged SunOpta to sell itself after becoming frustrated with the company's performance.

Then, in early October, SunOpta announced a partnership with Oaktree Capital Management, a global investment management firm based in Los Angeles. Oaktree invested $85 million in SunOpta, which was used to reduce debt and boost financial flexibility.

In a news release, SunOpta Chairman Dean Hollis said Colo was "intimately involved" with Oaktree during his time at Diamond Foods, so the company expects an "extremely efficient integration into his role of leading the company and its value creation plan."

More details on that plan were disclosed in the company's third-quarter earnings release. In addition to Jacobs leaving, the changes included a swap atop the board of directors Chairman Alan Murray stepping down, with Hollis being appointed and the closure of the company's juice processing and packaging facility in San Bernardino, Calif.

Also disclosed was a third-quarter net loss of $3.4 million.

jon.harris@mcall.com

Twitter @ByJonHarris

610-820-6779

Get the inside scoop on the Lehigh Valley's business scene on The Business Cycle, themorningcall.com/business

Like on Facebook: facebook.com/LVBizCycle

Follow on Twitter: @LVBizCycle

See the original post here:

Organic food company with Upper Macungie plant names new CEO - Allentown Morning Call