Sargento Foods, Plymouth, announced Michael Pellegrino has been appointed chief operating officer following the retirement of two long-time company leaders.
Mike McEvoy’s will retire from his position as executive vice president of operations and Kristi Jankowski will retire from her position as executive vice president of innovation.
Pellegrino joined Sargento in 2009. During his tenure he has held various executive positions including his most recent role as president and chief growth officer. In his newly appointed role as chief operating officer, Pellegrino’s expanded responsibilities will include leadership for the business units (consumer products and food service and ingredients), operations, innovation, sales, supply chain and strategic planning. During his tenure, Pellegrino and his team have accelerated the growth of the Sargento brand to become a national market-share leader in the retail cheese category. He has also led best-in-class integrated marketing campaigns that have made Sargento one of the most recognized brands in the dairy case.
McEvoy joined the family-owned cheese brand in 1997. Over the years, Mike has held a variety of positions at Sargento, including trade promotion manager, marketing manager, vice president of sales, president of food ingredients division and has led the operations team since 2013. As part of the third generation of the company’s family ownership, McEvoy has overseen more than $600 million of capital expansions while demonstrating care and compassion for the Sargento Family of employees.
Jankowski has been with Sargento since 1999. Under her leadership as EVP of Innovation the past 14 years, her team has generated almost $3 billion in revenue for the company. Jankowksi and her team have earned the Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation award for Sargento Ultra-Thin Slices natural cheese, Sargento Balanced Breaks and Sargento Balanced Breaks Cheese & Crackers. She led the company’s Idea Center where Sargento employees can share ideas that aid in the development of intellectual property. This program has generated numerous patents and trade secrets; developed technical capabilities for the company and Sargento employees.
“The Sargento Family and I have been blessed to have the leadership and companionship of Mike and Kristi. We’re grateful for their years of service and for the continued advisory roles they will hold through 2024,” said Louie Gentine, CEO of Sargento. “We also look forward to a successful road ahead with Michael Pellegrino as our Chief Operating Officer. Based on his proven track record, we know he will deliver against our ambitious growth plan while realizing our vision to the most innovative, best-loved real food comp
