TreeHouse elects new board chair

TreeHouse Foods and its board of directors have elected Ann Sardini chair of the board, effective April 1. 

Sardini has served as an independent TreeHouse director since May 2008 and succeeds Gary Smith, who served as board chair since July 2018.

Along with her experience on the TreeHouse board, including as the chair of both the compensation and audit committees, Sardini is a financial expert and transformation leader with extensive experience in branded and direct-to-consumer goods and services and media companies. She currently leads a strategic consulting practice advising companies in the areas of growth, mergers and acquisitions, capital restructuring and other value-creating strategies. Previous work included as CFO and in senior executive roles for multi-national companies and early-stage startups across the health and wellness, retail, and media sectors, including well-known companies such as Weight Watchers International, VitaminShoppe.com and Sesame Workshop (Children's Television Workshop). 

Earlier in her career, Sardini held financial roles of increasing responsibility, including at Q2, a start-up division of direct-to-consumer retailer QVC, and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). She currently chairs the board of Ideal Protein, a privately held healthcare company, and previously served on the board of Pier 1 Imports. In 2018, she was named to the WomenInc List of Most Influential Corporate Directors.

"I am honored to assume this new role at such a pivotal point in time for TreeHouse," said Sardini. "Over the last few years, TreeHouse has made great strides on its transformative growth journey under Steve Oakland's leadership. I'm proud of our talented management team and the tremendous strength of our board, which [Smith] has steadfastly guided throughout his tenure as chairman. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the executive management team and my fellow directors, as we build on our momentum and further champion diversity of perspectives, skills and backgrounds throughout the organization in support of TreeHouse's ongoing success and long-term value creation for stockholders."

The company recently added independent directors to the board as part of a cooperation agreement with Jana Partners, which owns 7.4% of the outstanding shares of the company’s stock.