Dive Brief:
- The Campbell’s Company appointed Aaron Gwinner to the role of SVP, chief digital and technology officer effective April 14, the company said in a Thursday announcement.
- Gwinner comes to the 155-year-old food and beverage company, best known for its namesake soup brand, from tobacco giant Reynolds American, where he served as SVP and CIO since 2019. Previously, Gwinner spent 26 years with The Coca-Cola Company, rising to CIO of digital, marketing and public affairs and global lead of IT transformation and capabilities.
- Gwinner will report to Campbell’s EVP and Chief Enterprise Transformation Officer Dan Poland, who was elevated from chief supply chain officer in November and tasked with leading the company’s newly created Enterprise Transformation Office. Julia Anderson, who joined the company as chief technology and information officer in 2022, will depart at the end of July, the company told CIO Dive via email.
Dive Insight:
Digital transformation has been a linchpin of Campbell’s business strategy for the better part of a decade.
The company completed a major ERP modernization in 2020, migrating from an Oracle database platform to cloud-based SAP HANA on Azure infrastructure following its nearly $5 billion acquisition of snackmaker Synder’s-Lance.
Poland’s appointment and the formation of Campbell’s transformation unit was accompanied by deeper change.
In November, the company shed the word “Soup” from its name as it completed another major acquisition, adding Sovos Brands and its flagship Rao’s and Michael Angelo’s products to the multibillion dollar Campbell’s brand portfolio.
“Transformation is essential to stay nimble and to accelerate our growth in pursuit of setting the standard for performance in the food industry,” Mark Clouse, who was then Campbell’s president and CEO, said in the announcement of Poland’s appointment. Clouse was succeeded by president and CEO Mick Beekhuizen, who was elected to the role in December, effective Feb. 1.
Campbell’s net sales grew 9% year over year to $2.7 billion during the three months ending Jan. 26, the company reported last month.
Modernization is powering innovation across the food and beverage industry.
Kraft Heinz rolled out the KraftGPT internal generative AI tool last year after cementing a multiyear partnership with Google Cloud in 2022. General Mills also created an internal generative AI tool, called MillsChat, last year.
McCormick, the spice and seasoning brand, partnered with Cognizant to drive digital transformation in April 2024 and appointed Guy Peri to its chief information and digital officer position in November.
Campbell’s launched its first generative AI-powered consumer app — a recipe assistant — earlier this year. The tool was developed by the company’s internal infrastructure team, Anderson said on LinkedIn last month.
Gwinner will lead the company’s digital transformation strategy with a focus on improving agility and accelerating growth, the company said in the appointment announcement. He will have responsibility for the digital and IT functions.
