Innovative Food Holdings, the parent of online specialty food platforms iGourmet, Mouth.com, and Plantbelly.com, said it has named Kroger and Walmart veteran Bill Bennett (above) the company’s new CEO.
Bennett, who most recently was vice president of ecommerce at Kroger Co., succeeds Sam Klepfish, who plans to step down on Feb. 28. Klepfish, who has been CEO since 2007, will remain chairman of the Bonita Springs, Florida-based company’s board of directors.
At Kroger, Bennett was responsible for the company’s $10 billion ecommerce business, according to Innovative Food Holdings. He joined Kroger from Walmart, where he worked for more than seven years in a variety of ecommerce and store leadership roles, including finance, merchandising, strategy, analytics, and product management. Prior to Walmart, he led the pricing strategy team at S.C. Johnson and held a variety of leadership roles at General Mills.
“Attracting an executive of Bill’s caliber, expertise and background validates the power and the future of the IVFH platform,” said Jeff Gramm, portfolio manager at investment firm Bandera Partners and an independent board member of IVFH. “We are thrilled about the opportunities to further leverage and grow IVFH under Bill's leadership, vision, and strategic approach.”
IVFH, which has both B2B and B2C ecommerce businesses, has been expanding its operations by providing ecommerce solutions for some specialty food companies, including Fauchon Paris, a supplier of chocolates, teas, biscuits, and other gourmet products. Fauchon is launching an ecommerce business in the U.S. that will be supported by IVFH, the companies said in January.
In addition, IVFH recently said it will provide ecommerce solutions for The Simple Root, a global plant-based food brand backed by Pilot Lite and McCain Foods. The Simple Root’s products, which are made without dairy, nuts, soy, eggs, gluten or artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, include plant-based dips, cream cheese-style spreads and artisan cheese-style spreads. Expansion plans include more plant-based cheeses and plant-based desserts.
“IVFH’s unique set of assets, supplier relationships, fulfillment capabilities and ecommerce expertise strongly position its platform for further growth and scale,” Bennett said in a statement. “I believe these capabilities will allow us to lean into our specialty foods marketplace business with broad line distributors, onboard new brands as a full-service third-party logistics provider and build sustainable [direct-to-consumer] businesses with unique customer offerings.”
Klepfish was credited with increasing IVFH’s revenues more than tenfold during his tenure as CEO, with trailing 12-month revenues of $77 million.
“As I shift my focus to new entrepreneurial and investment projects, I believe this is the optimal time to transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level by further leveraging the platform we have built,” he said.
Related: Raley's Names Burkhalter CFO; SFA Podcast: Crafting a Win-Win With Dwight Richmond, Town & Country Markets.