10 December 2014
2 Sisters Food Group has appointed food industry heavyweight Ian Toal to the newly created role of Divisional Managing Director.
Toal takes a wide brief at 2 Sisters, which will see him head up the company’s Added Value Poultry, Chilled, Food To Go, Meal Solutions and Ready to Cook divisions. He will report directly to CEO Ranjit Singh.
Toal brings a wealth of experience, having enjoyed a 30-year career in food industry management. His most recent position was CEO of leading dairy business Adams Foods, makers of Kerrygold and Pilgrim’s Choice cheese. Prior to this, he worked as Managing Director of Delice de France and was a trading director at food service giant Brakes.
He said: “I am delighted to be on board and to be given a challenge that I couldn’t turn down. The opportunity to work with a successful entrepreneur like Ranjit at a fast-growing business was too good an opportunity to miss.
“There’s no doubt our sector has become intensely competitive and we have to ensure that 2 Sisters can differentiate itself from its competitors, relentlessly innovate and not just satisfy our customers – we have to delight them. Working closely with my team, I am here to help make that happen.
“There’s tremendous opportunity at 2 Sisters – we need to build our newest offering, Ready To Cook, as well as driving successful sales with Added Value Poultry and Meal Solutions and Food to Go. I’m incredibly excited about joining the team and helping to create excitement and passion for who we are and what we do.”
Toals’ arrival at 2 Sisters is the latest in a string of senior appointments at the company in 2014, which including Group CFO Steve Leadbeater, Food to Go & Bakery MD Lochlain Feeley (now reporting to Toal) and Group Innovation Director April Preston.
It also follows capital investment announcements at a number of sites including Carlise, Cambuslang and Sheffield earlier this year.