Chris Neugent, the president and chief executive of the Lakeville-based Post Consumer Brands' ready-to-eat cereal business, is moving to its parent company as executive vice president of strategy.
Neugent became head of MOM Brands Co. in October 2008 and was president and CEO in January 2015 when St. Louis-based Post Holdings acquired the maker of Malt-O-Meal and other cereals for about $1.2 billion.
Howard Friedman will succeed Neugent as president and CEO of Post Consumer Brands. Friedman was previously the executive vice president of Kraft Heinz's meat and dairy business.
"Chris and his team have done an extraordinary job in a challenging environment and I expect that Howard will build further upon our success," said Rob Vitale, president and chief executive of parent company Post Holdings, in a release.
Neugent is credited by the company with successfully integrating the Post and MOM Brands cereals into one segment. Under his new role, Neugent will be responsible for helping the other business segments develop strategic plans based on his success with Post Consumer Brands.
Post Consumer Brands, one of five reportable segments of its parent company, makes and sells ready-to-eat cereals for private labels and under the Post, MOM and Weetabix brand names and also produces premium natural and organic granola, cereals and snacks. It also sells hot cereal brands including Malt-O-Meal Hot Wheat, Coco Wheats, Better Oats and Mom's Best oatmeal.
Post Consumer Brands is the third-largest seller of ready-to-eat cereals with a 19.1 percent share of the market, according to the company's most recent annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The segment contributes about 37 percent of the company's total annual revenue of $5.2 billion.
Other segments of Post Holdings include Minnetonka-based Michael Foods, seller of egg products; Active Nutrition, maker of protein shakes and other ready-to-drink products; private brands including traditional and organic peanut butter and tree-nut butters; and Weetabix, which consists of internationally distributed ready-to-eat cereal and muesli businesses.
