Ruth Simpson will take over as managing director of the Greater Manchester chilled pizza producer this September.
Simpson has more than 25 years of experience in the food industry, including her most recent position at the Princes Group where she served as chief commercial officer (CCO).
In her role at Princes, she headed up the commercial management of European business units, and was responsible for transformation projects and integration following a change of ownership. She specialises in strategy implementation, operational excellence, customer focus and sustainability.
“Stateside Foods is an impressive company with a clear vision and great development. It is an honour and I am very much looking forward to working with the management team to continue to shape the future so successfully,” commented Simpson.
Simpson’s appointment is said to be part of a long-term succession plan. She succeeds Jon Lucas who is stepping down to retire after more than three decades at Stateside Foods.
Together with his management team, he has played a key role in transforming the company from a specialised supplier to one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of chilled pizza products. Under his leadership, new production sites were established, technological innovations driven forward and strong trading relationships established.
“It has been an honour to accompany this development - especially thanks to the great team on site. I am proud of what we have achieved together and am convinced that Stateside Foods will continue to grow under the new leadership,” he said.
Dr Thorid Klantschitsch, the CEO of parent company, the Freiberger Group, added: “Jon Lucas has played a key role in shaping Stateside Foods extremely successfully over many years - we would like to thank him for this! We look forward to working with Ruth Simpson, who, as an experienced manager, will continue the successful course we have taken and at the same time provide new impulses for the further development of the company.”
Founded in Berlin in 1976, Freiberger Lebensmittel GmbH produces frozen and chilled pizzas for private labels and is part of the Freiberger Group, which is the global market leader in this segment. Its portfolio includes pizza, frozen snacks and ready meals.
The Freiberger Group includes companies at 11 locations in Europe and the USA, which employ a total of over 3,800 people. The Group has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Südzucker AG since 1998.
