Chris Thomas
A qualified chartered engineer, Chris Thomas has worked in the food industry for more than 30 years, holding senior management positions with Pepsi, St Ivel, Geest-Bakkavor and most recently as chief executive of Adelie Foods.
He’s certainly put the skills he gained at these major food and drink manufacturers to good use since he took over as chief executive of meat processor Tulip, in May 2013.
From that time onwards, Thomas has championed the pork industry and has spearheaded a tranche of investments in Tulip’s UK factories via its owner Danish Crown.
That includes more than £37M poured into its Ashton, Spalding and Westerleigh abattoirs last year to support a major export push into China. Indeed, Thomas reckons its pork sales to the Chinese market racked up £30–£40M in 2014 and sees big potential in that region.
Significant financial support elsewhere has led to hundreds of new jobs. For example, Tulip launched a recruitment drive for 145 people for Westerleigh alone in February, following its £16M investment there.
Thomas has also led an innovation strategy enabling Tulip to respond to the latest consumer trends.