US meat giant Tyson Foods has made another change to its executive team as chief operating officer Devin Cole retires.
Wes Morris, who is a Tyson Foods’ veteran of more than 20 years, will step into the COO role on 15 June, the New York-listed group announced today (8 June).
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Morris has previously led the prepared foods and poultry businesses at Tyson Foods and in his new capacity will be in charge of operations across all of the company’s product divisions, including the currently challenging sector of beef.
His appointment follows a reshuffle at the top as current president and CEO Donnie King moves aside to make way for Jeff Schomburger, who will head up Tyson Foods from 4 October.
King, who became CEO in 2021, will remain on the board of the Hillshire Farm brand owner.
Schomburger said today: “Wes Morris has a proven track record of executing against operational priorities across key segments of the business.
“His deep understanding of our operations, combined with our shared focus on serving customers and consumers, will help position the company for long-term growth and continued success.”
Morris added. “We have a strong foundation in place, and I’m committed to operational discipline as the company continues to advance its strategic priorities and execute its growth plan.”
Reporting its second-quarter results in May, Tyson Foods said continued cattle shortages drove beef volumes down 13.1% in the three-month period and 10.1% in the first half to 28 March.
As a consequence, beef is expected to report full-year losses in adjusted operating profit of $350m to $500m, compared to a previous estimate for losses of $250m to $500m.
One positive for beef was the right-sizing of Tyson Foods production footprint with the closure of its Lexington, Nebraska, facility and scaled back operations at the Amarillo plant in Texas.
Outgoing COO Cole said at the time: “Our updated operational footprint is aligning with lower cattle availability and we are seeing the benefits of a higher capacity utilisation.
“While the quarter included variability in industry conditions, we believe the harvesting plan adjustments better position us to compete effectively this year and over the long term with the right size production footprint.”
