Foster Farms appointed Jayson Penn as its CEO, effective immediately.
Penn succeeds Donnie Smith, who was named CEO of Foster Farms in June 2022, in conjunction with the company being acquired by Atlas Holdings.
Penn offers to the company a long career in the poultry industry that began working with his family’s poultry business. He later spent nearly a decade with Pilgrim’s Pride, where he served in various leadership roles, including senior vice president of the Commercial Business Group, executive vice president of sales and operations, president of Pilgrim’s USA, and eventually, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation.
Penn also had served on the board of directors, the executive committee of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, the board and executive committee of the National Chicken Council and the board of directors of The World Poultry Foundation.
Penn left Pilgrim’s Pride in 2020, not long after he was one of 10 poultry industry executives to be indicted on federal antitrust charges. After two mistrials, the case was heard a third time in court with half as many defendants. Penn and all other suspects were found not guilty after a 2022 trial.
He had been the president of John Soules Foods since October 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Foster Farms has been a household name for nearly a century, and I’m excited to continue working to position this iconic brand for success for many years to come. We will be focused on serving our team members and supporting our customers with products they can trust. A solid foundation for smart growth has been set, and I’m ready to get started,” said Penn.
Limited information concerning Smith’s departure from the company was disclosed, but Foster Farms spokesman Ira Brill said in an email, “the company extended thanks to Donnie for his past service.”
Smith joined Foster Farms in June 2022, coming out of retirement to take the helm of the California-based broiler and turkey producer. He had previously worked for Tyson Foods for 36 years, the last seven of those as CEO, with that tenure coming to an end in December 2016.
However, Smith was not idle during his retirement. He had been working on developing a modern poultry industry in Rwanda and working with other underdeveloped countries like Mozambique, Uganda and Haiti.
Smith was still involved in African outreach during his time with Foster Farms, and he is expected to continue with those endeavors, Brill said, adding he had “no other information on his future plans.”
James Richards named chief financial officer
At the same time Foster Farms announced the hiring of Penn as its CEO, it announced that James Richards would be the company’s new chief financial officer (CFO).
Richards most recently worked as the president and CEO of Kodi Collective, a print and marketing services business. Before joining Kodi Collective, he spent 22 years with General Electric, serving across diverse industries in senior CFO, chief information officer, and operations transformation leadership roles.
Atlas Partners issued the following statement concerning the new leaders of Foster Farms: “We are excited to have Jayson on board to lead the transformation journey underway. Jayson and James bring immediate strength to the broader Leadership Team. Jayson’s deep industry experience and commitment to operational excellence provide the right combination to lead Foster Farms into the future.”
