TreeHouse Foods has named Dean Foods executive Chris Sliva as COO of its Bay Valley Foods unit.

Sliva’s appointment to the newly-created role reflects the “new alignment” of its senior management, TreeHouse said. This is a reflection of the group’s changing needs in response to its “rapid development”, the US private-label firm added.

Sliva joins TreeHouse from Dean Foods, where he served as chief commercial officer of Fresh Dairy Direct-Morningstar.

TreeHouse was spun off from US dairy giant Dean Foods in 2005.