PLANO, TEXAS — Meat snack company Stryve Foods Inc. announced on July 3 that it elected Kevin Vivian as the new chairman of board, effective immediately.

“I am excited to step into the role of chairman at such a dynamic time for Stryve Foods,” Vivian said. “The company has made tremendous progress in its transformation and is now poised for growth. As we continue to take steps towards delivering profitability, I look forward to working with the board and management team to continue building on our momentum, achieving our strategic goals and, ultimately, creating value for our shareholders.”

Vivian brings an extensive background in consumer goods and expertise in driving growth in CPG. He worked for PepsiCo 32 years, with the last six years serving as senior vice president, national account sales, and vice president/general manager of Frito-Lay’s $4 billion immediate consumption business. While in that role, Vivian expanded Frito-Lay’s business through innovation, distribution and marketing as well as growing sales and market share. Stryve added that Vivian has deep experience working in close collaboration with top retail executive teams in developing partnerships, strategies and innovation to enhance sales and market share growth.

“We are emerging from the first two phases of our transformation, in which we focused on food quality, brand renovation, maximizing value through productivity, portfolio simplification, enhanced unit economics and ultimately creating a lean operating culture ready to drive quality growth,” said Chris Boever, chief executive officer of Stryve. “Our next phase is centered around reaching profitability through quality growth. Kevin Vivian is the ideal choice to serve as the company’s chairman as we execute on the final phase of our transformation and delivering that growth promise.”

In the update, Boever also thanked Ted Casey, the outgoing chairman of the board, for his leadership and strategic contributions in his role along with being one of the founders of the business. 

“He has made an incredible impact in helping the company build its manufacturing capabilities and expertise so that we could develop our fantastic portfolio of brands,” Boever said of Casey. “Our products uniquely deliver on the growing consumer trends in snacking of protein, convenience and the reduction of sugars and preservatives. That’s all made possible through our innovative, one-of-a-kind manufacturing capabilities that were an outgrowth of Ted’s strategic vision in the early years of Stryve.”

The company said it remains committed to delivering high-quality, healthy snacking options and driving shareholder value.

“I have never been more confident that we have the talent, experience, demand strategies and strategic alignment in place to deliver the quality growth necessary to accelerate our path to profitability,” Boever concluded.