THOMASVILLE, Ga., Nov. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Flowers Foods, Inc.
(NYSE:FLO) announced today that consistent with the company's
management succession plan established by the board of directors
five years ago, George E. Deese, age
68, will retire as executive chairman of the board at the end of
2014. Deese will become non-executive chairman of the board and
will continue to be involved in the strategic direction of the
company. The announcement came following a board meeting earlier
today.
Allen L. Shiver will continue to
serve as president and CEO. Shiver has been with the company for 36
years and was elected president in 2010 and CEO in 2013 when Deese
moved to the position of executive chairman.
Commenting on the announcement, Deese said, "In 2013, the board
asked that I serve as executive chairman while the company
completed the integration of several major acquisitions and growth
opportunities, including Tasty Baking, Lepage Bakeries, and the
Hostess bread assets. We also wanted to ensure an orderly
transition to the next generation of leadership for our company. I
am confident in the integration progress of the acquisitions as
well as the operations initiatives Allen and his team are
pursuing."
Deese said that Flowers Foods is well equipped to perform for
its shareholders, customers, and team members in the years ahead.
"Through many decades, we have invested in our bakeries,
distribution networks, products, brands, and team to create
competitive strengths," he said. "Our priorities will be to deliver
sales and earnings growth and to retain our position as the most
efficient baker in our industry. Allen and his team will capitalize
on and improve the operating strategies that have allowed our
company to deliver significant value creation for our shareholders
over the long term."
Commenting on Deese's more than 50-year career with Flowers,
Shiver said, "George Deese is a
natural leader with deep insight, outstanding judgment, and the
highest level of integrity. He helped shape our strategies and led
the team to deliver outstanding sales and earnings results. Flowers
Foods and our shareholders benefitted greatly from George's
leadership and we are pleased he will continue as chairman of the
board of directors."
Deese joined Flowers' sales department in 1964 and was
successively promoted to higher levels of responsibility. He served
for almost 20 years as president and chief operating officer of
Flowers Bakeries, the company's core business. Under his
leadership, Flowers Foods grew from a strong regional baker to the
second largest baking company in the
United States.
About Flowers Foods
Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:
FLO) is one of the largest producers of fresh packaged bakery foods
in the United States with annual
sales of approximately $3.7 billion.
Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide
range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are
Nature's Own, Wonder, and Tastykake. Learn
more at www.flowersfoods.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements relate to current expectations and are often identified
by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe,"
"continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan,"
"predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," "is likely to,"
"is expected to" or "will continue," or the negative of these terms
or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ from those projected. Other factors that
may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking
statements contained in this release and that may affect the
company's prospects in general include, but are not limited to, (a)
competitive conditions in the baked foods industry, including
promotional and price competition, (b) changes in consumer demand
for our products, including changes in consumer behavior, trends
and preferences, including health and whole grain trends, and the
movement toward more inexpensive store-branded products, (c) the
success of productivity improvements and new product introductions,
(d) a significant reduction in business with any of our major
customers including a reduction from adverse developments in any of
our customer's business, (e) fluctuations in commodity pricing, (f)
energy and raw material costs and availability and hedging and
counterparty risk, (g) our ability to fully integrate recent
acquisitions into our business, (h) our ability to achieve cash
flow from capital expenditures and acquisitions and the
availability of new acquisitions that build shareholder value; (i)
consolidation within the baking industry and related industries;
and (j) the failure of our information technology systems to
perform adequately, including any interruptions, intrusions or
security breaches of such systems. The foregoing list of
important factors does not include all such factors, nor
necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you
should consult other disclosures made by the company, including the
risk factors included in our most recently filed Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")
and disclosures made in other filings with the SEC and company
press releases, for other factors that may cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected by the company. We
caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, as they speak only as of the date made and are
inherently uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to
publicly revise or update such statements, except as required by
law.
SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc.