Beth Ford, who received the AWESOME Legendary Leadership (ALL) Award in 2015, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Land O’Lakes. At the time of the ALL Award, she was the company’s EVP, Chief Supply Chain and Operations Officer.
Beth will be the first female chief executive in the $14 billion company’s history and one of only 25 female chief executives at a Fortune 500 firm.
According to an announcement in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Star Tribune, “Ford joined Land O’Lakes early in 2012 from International Flavors and Fragrances, where she helped streamline the company’s global-manufacturing infrastructure and built new factories in India, China and Singapore. Before that, she held several management jobs in supply chain and operations with Mobil Corp., PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Co., Hachette Book Group and Scholastic Inc.”
The article also says “Land O’Lakes is not a publicly traded company, instead it is owned by 3,963 farmers and agricultural retail cooperatives in the U.S. Ford will answer to a 28-member board of farmers.” Although known for such foods as butter and other dairy products, Land O’Lakes has grown into areas including animal feed, seed, chemical, consulting and ag technology.
Read excerpts from Beth Ford’s interview at the ALL Award Presentation.