Post Consumer Brands’ CEO takes a promotion, opening a key food industry job in Minnesota

The CEO of Lakeville-based Post Consumer Brands is getting called up to a leadership role at the parent company in St. Louis, opening a key corner office in the food industry.

Nicolas Catoggio has led Post Consumer Brands for the past four years, weaving billion-dollar pet food acquisitions into the cereal company behind Fruity Pebbles and Malt-O-Meal.

In January, Catoggio will become chief operating officer at Post Holdings, and a new leader will be needed to run the Lakeville unit, which is now twice the size it was just a few years ago.

“Nico is a strategic leader who has led Post Consumer Brands’ growth from a ready-to-eat cereal company to a multi-category organization,” Post Holdings CEO Rob Vitale said in a statement.

Post Holdings also owns Hopkins-based egg processor Michael Foods and the British cereal brand Weetabix.

The Fortune 500 company’s board may be testing a potential heir for Vitale, as the chief operating officer role is a frequent steppingstone to a company’s top job. Vitale, 59, has been Post Holdings’ CEO since 2014.

Come January, Catoggio said he will continue overseeing Post Consumer Brands if a new CEO has not been found.

The shakeup comes amid the retirement of Jeff Zadoks, chief operating officer since 2022 and chief financial officer before that.

Zadoks, 60, served as interim CEO while Vitale underwent cancer treatment at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024.

Catoggio, 51, came to Post after 14 years at Boston Consulting Group and eight years at Unilever. He has an economics degree from Universidad Nacional de la Plata in Argentina and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Catoggio earned $2.8 million last year, including the value of previously issued equity awards that vested during the year.

His predecessor, Howard Friedman, was also elevated to the same position at Post Holdings, but left to be CEO of Utz Brands in 2022.

Post, the leading producer of store-brand cereal in addition to its Honey Bunches of Oats and other brands, found even its low-cost offerings weren’t able to draw in consumers.

Big promotions on branded cereal made those private-label offerings “not as compelling,” Vitale told analysts on an earnings call Friday morning. Lower foot traffic at Walmart, a major customer, also dented demand.

The pet food business, which initially doubled expectations, hit a snag after Post rebranded Rachel Ray Nutrish to simply Nutrish and refreshed its packaging.

“We expected short-term volume challenges as we overhauled the Nutrish brand, but the magnitude has been larger than anticipated,” Zadoks said.

Post’s other pet food brands include Kibbles ‘n Bits, Gravy Train and 9Lives.