Danielle Barran

Leading the largest profit centre for the family-owned company that makes one of every four frozen French fries in the world. Responsible from end to end for the company’s largest profit centre from the North American potato business, including P&L, growth strategy, marketing, insights & innovation. Responsible for the 9 plants in Canada and the U.S. in the potato business, strategic and capital planning for growth in manufacturing and market share, and relationships with the potato growers that produce billions of pounds of potatoes annually in North America. Oversight of 3600 employees and relationships with grower families.

Shepherded the company through the early days of Covid-19, working with both growers and government to resolve 300M+ pounds of harvested potatoes, to support growers and minimize crop loss during plant shutdown. By foreseeing and preparing for increased demand for frozen fries during Covid, increased retail market share by +3.1 pts. Despite Covid-related challenges, built two new state-of-the-art lines, on-time and ahead of budget, driving successful $400M capital investment.

Responsible for the strategic plan, operations and P&L for the $2.9 billion pet division, that included iconic brands such as 9 Lives, Meow Mix, Kibbles ’n Bits and Milk-Bone. Gained 2 share points for Milk-Bone, largest brand in dog snack category. Drove Meow Mix to second-fastest growing brand in the cat category. Led the go-to-market strategy for the highly dynamic and converging pet category across U.S. retail, specialty, and e-commerce channels to achieve total growth plan, including disrupting premium brand strategy across the category through deal with Walmart, which led to incremental annual sales of $100 million. Led due diligence for, and integration of, the $5.8 billion acquisition of Big Heart Pet Brands from KKR and other private equity investors, representing Smuckers’ entry into the pet food business. Led valuation and due diligence for $1.9 billion Ainsworth Pet Nutrition acquisition, including the Rachel Ray Nutrish brand. Developed strategy to expand the pet business to China and other international markets.