Tyson Yu is elevated by Aryzta to the position of Chief Executive Officer for North America.
Switzerland’s Schlieren – As part of a larger organizational transformation for the multinational food company, Tyson Yu was elevated to the post of chief executive officer of Aryzta North America, specializing in specialty baking.
Dave Johnson, the newly appointed non-executive chairman of Aryzta North America, is succeeded by Mr. Yu, who is now the organization’s chief operations officer. After working for Aryzta for nine years, Mr. Yu most recently assumed the role of C.O.O. in March 2018. Prior to this, he held positions as vice president of strategy and business transformation and senior vice president of business development for Aryzta’s Canadian business unit. He was also the company’s president and chief operating officer.
He was director of planning and strategic initiatives at FSB Global Holdings, Inc. (Fresh Start Bakeries) prior to joining Aryzta. Prior to this, he worked as an analyst at Merrill Lynch and as an associate at Lindsay Goldberg.
Georgetown University awarded him a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics.
Under Mr. Yu’s direction, John Heffernan has been appointed president and chief commercial officer of North America. Since March 2018, Mr. Heffernan has worked for Aryzta, most recently in the capacity of group chief strategy officer. He was the chief development officer of daa plc, the founder and chief executive officer of Clearpower and AER, the development director and acquisitions manager of Boundary Capital Ltd., the engagement manager of McKinsey & Co., the trade marketing manager of Tomkins P.L.C., and the business analyst of McKinsey & Co. before joining Aryzta.
He graduated from University College Dublin with a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance, the London School of Economics and Political Science with a master’s degree in international accounting and finance, and INSEAD with a master’s degree in business administration.
Effective February 1, Mr. Yu and Mr. Heffernan will both be a part of Aryzta’s Group Executive Committee.
Mr. Johnson leaves his position as chief executive officer of Aryzta North America after two years in that capacity.
“CEO of Aryzta Kevin Toland expressed gratitude to Dave for his leadership and contribution in refocusing their company’s North American business over the last two years, enhancing their customer focus, restructuring and reorganizing the region, and successfully launching Project Renew.” His decision to be active in the group makes me happy. Tyson has ten years of solid experience working for our company in a variety of functional, operational, and geographic roles throughout North America. John has played a significant role in the group’s strategy, innovation, and commercial development. I hope both of them succeed in their new positions.
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Mr. Yu and Mr. Heffernan’s promotions come after Christine Prociv and Tuan Nguyen joined the Aryzta North America team in October 2019. As vice-president of marketing and innovation, Ms. Prociv joined the firm and is in charge of Aryzta North America’s overall innovation strategy as well as the La Brea Bakery brand. The vice-president of procurement was named as Mr. Nguyen.
The leadership shifts at Aryzta in North America follow a challenging 2019 in which revenues decreased by over 5%.
The organizational changes were discussed by Simon Harvey, a food correspondent for GlobalData, a data analytics and consultancy firm based in London.
The company has moved on from the recent sales of non-core assets across its important European operations to concentrate resources on accelerating revenue growth across the Atlantic, according to Aryzta, which described the management changes for its North American division as a “planned organizational evolution,” Mr. Harvey said. One expects more announcements about North America in the near future, most likely about how the company plans to handle growing competition from private label, a market that is not as well-established as it is in U.K. retail but is quickly gaining traction as customers seek out savings overcomparable brands.
Kevin Toland, the chief executive officer of Aryzta Group, has never shied away from emphasizing his dedication to the North American market, even in the face of calls from certain experts to abandon the continent and focus instead on Europe. Of the €3.4 billion in group revenues and 32% of earnings before tax, interest, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), 41% come from North America, and Europe is unlikely to be able to make up that difference in the near future.
According to Mr. Harvey, Aryzta may be starting to solve its income issues in North America with these management appointments.Mr. Harvey stated, “Yu, the incoming divisional chief executive officer, will definitely need to advance in innovation to secure new business in North America in order to overcome the private label challenge.”