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Kind’s new CEO comes from Mars Wrigley candy business

Kind Healthy Snacks is shaking up its leadership team and has appointed Russell Stokes as the new Chief Executive Officer of Kind North America. This change took effect immediately on Oct. 20.

Stokes joined the Kind team this past April as the Chief Growth Officer, and prior to that role, he was an executive at Mars Wrigley. As part of this transition, Stokes will report to the company’s former CEO Juan Martin who led the bar company in an expansion across 35 countries and six new categories, including the freezer aisle.

The past couple of years have seen the Kind company move beyond its core offering of bars and expand into refrigerated and frozen foods, cereals, chocolate and snacks. As the company has expanded, its sales have risen $1.5 billion annually, Food Dive reported. At the same time, the 20-year-old business has only made inroads with 20% of U.S. households, leaving a lot of room for additional growth.

And it is clear that the company is targeting continued growth. “KIND is continually seeking new ways to elevate categories with products that meet the growing consumer demand for better-for-you options that do not compromise on taste,” the company said in a statement announcing this leadership change.

Food Dive reported that Stokes hinted that the company may be looking to expand its presence in frozen and cereal. Frozen foods have gained significant momentum during the pandemic. Following an initial sales bump of 17.4% in November 2020 as compared to the year before, the popularity of frozen food has remained strong for the past year, according to data from IRI. Recent data from Deloitte showed that price and preservation are continuing to drive consumers to select frozen alternatives.

Cereal too experienced a resurgence thanks to the pandemic reigniting the habit of eating breakfast at home. After several years of stagnant growth, the category experienced double-digit sales growth in 2020, with better-for-you options leading the pack in terms of choice.

As Kind is driven by the “purpose to be kinder to our bodies, our communities and our planet - one snack, one act at a time,” there is a good chance that this better-for-you attitude will help bolster its sales as it continues to delve deeper into diverse categories outside of bars. One direction in which Stokes could lead the company is toward better-for-you indulgence. With his background working at a candy manufacturer and the Kind company's recent interest in chocolate, indulgent treats — a segment that spiked during the pandemic with chocolate sales, in particular, jumping as Cargill reported one-third of consumers increased their intake — is a category that is waiting to be tapped.