Bryan Reese, senior vice president of sales, marketing and research & development for Foster Farms, will leave the company to become the president and CEO of Basic American Foods, a producer of value-added potato and bean products.
Reese will assume his new job on November 9.
"I am extremely pleased that Bryan is joining our company. He has the skills, experience, and vision to lead our company into a new era of growth, while building on the successes of our past," said George H. Hume, chairman of Basic American Foods.
A graduate of West Point and the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, Reese served for four years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was twice deployed to Somalia. After his military service, Bryan joined E. & J. Gallo where he held marketing positions of increasing responsibility. As chief marketing and innovation officer at Bolthouse Farms, Reese was the architect of the marketing strategy that built the company's successful juice and salad dressing businesses.
At Foster Farms, he was a key contributor to the company's recent successes. These included the significant growth of strategic product lines and the establishment of the Foster Farms Bowl which is played in Levi's Stadium every year.
"Bryan is an extraordinary leader with a track record of generating profitable growth in the food industry," said Hume. "He has extensive knowledge of the consumer packaged goods, foodservice, and ingredient segments where our company competes. Bryan's integrity and personality are a perfect fit with the values of Basic American Foods."
