When a company with nearly a century of experience makes a strategic leadership hire, the food and beverage industry takes notice. Dawn Foods, the Jackson, Michigan-based global bakery manufacturing powerhouse, just made such a move by bringing Kristi Kangas on board as their first Senior Vice President of North America Manufacturing Operations.
This isn’t just another C-suite shuffle: it’s a calculated play that signals Dawn’s commitment to scaling their North American operations in a competitive market where efficiency and innovation separate the winners from the also-rans.
Why This Hire Matters for the Food and Beverage Industry
Dawn Foods has been a trusted name in bakery manufacturing since 1920, serving over 50,000 artisanal and retail bakers, food service leaders, and manufacturers across more than 100 countries. When a company of this caliber creates a brand-new senior vice president position, it’s worth paying attention to what they’re planning.
Kangas will oversee approximately 1,000 team members across four manufacturing facilities in the United States and Canada, with responsibility for Quality, Safety, Engineering, and Continuous Improvement. That’s not just a big job: it’s a mission-critical role that will shape how one of North America’s largest bakery suppliers operates for years to come.
From Chemical Engineering to Food Industry Leadership
What makes Kangas particularly interesting for food and beverage professionals is her impressive track record across the industry. With over 25 years of operations and manufacturing leadership experience, she’s not just another executive making lateral moves: she’s built her career by consistently taking on increasingly complex challenges.
Most recently, she served as Vice President of Manufacturing & Supply Chain at Griffith Foods, where she led more than 1,400 employees across five facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Before that, her resume reads like a who’s who of major food and beverage companies: Chief Operating Officer at Darigold, President & COO at Readington Farms, and senior manufacturing roles at Land O’Lakes, Cargill, Frito-Lay, and Kraft Foods.
This kind of cross-industry experience is gold in today’s food and beverage landscape. Each of these companies operates differently, faces unique challenges, and serves distinct market segments. That breadth of experience means Kangas brings proven strategies from multiple corners of the industry.
The Strategic Vision Behind the Hire
John Schmitz, Dawn’s Chief Operating Officer for the Americas, didn’t mince words about why they chose Kangas: “Kristi is a proven manufacturing leader with a track record of driving operational excellence in complex, multi-site environments. Her depth of experience in food manufacturing, her hands-on leadership style, and her passion for building strong teams make her an outstanding addition to Dawn’s North America Leadership Team.”
But what really stands out is Kangas’s focus on automation, standardization, continuous improvement, and cost-effective growth. These aren’t just buzzwords: they’re the operational imperatives that will define success in food manufacturing over the next decade.
What This Means for Dawn’s Customers and Competitors
For the thousands of bakeries, food service operations, and manufacturers that rely on Dawn Foods, this hire signals a commitment to operational excellence that should translate into better service, more consistent quality, and potentially more innovative products.
Kangas made it clear that she was drawn to Dawn by its family-owned heritage and people-first culture. “I’m a manufacturing junkie at heart, and Dawn offers a unique opportunity to focus deeply on operations while making a meaningful impact,” she explained. “The combination of a family-owned, multi-generation company with a global footprint and strong North America presence really resonated with me.”
This perspective matters because it suggests Dawn is doubling down on what makes them different in a consolidating industry. While many food and beverage companies are getting absorbed by larger conglomerates, Dawn remains family-owned and is investing in leadership that values that independence.
Industry Implications and Trends
Kangas’s appointment reflects several broader trends in food and beverage manufacturing that industry professionals should watch:
Operational Excellence as Competitive Advantage: In an industry with tight margins, the companies that win are those that can execute flawlessly at scale. Dawn’s investment in this level of manufacturing leadership signals they’re betting on operational excellence as their differentiator.
Multi-Site Complexity: Managing manufacturing operations across multiple facilities, different regulations, and various market demands requires a specific skill set. Kangas’s experience doing exactly this at multiple companies makes her uniquely qualified for the challenges ahead.
Technology and Automation: Her focus on automation isn’t just about cutting costs: it’s about consistency, quality, and scalability. Food and beverage companies that don’t invest in these areas risk falling behind.
Supply Chain Resilience: After the disruptions of recent years, having leadership with deep supply chain and manufacturing experience across multiple companies provides valuable perspective on building resilient operations.
Looking Forward
What makes this hire particularly interesting is the timing. Dawn Foods is making this investment during a period when many food and beverage companies are cautiously managing costs and waiting to see how various economic pressures play out.
By creating this new role and bringing in someone with Kangas’s background, Dawn is signaling confidence in their growth trajectory and commitment to strengthening their North American operations. For industry professionals, this suggests Dawn sees opportunities others might be missing or is positioning for future growth that requires stronger operational foundation.
Kangas’s educational background: a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Trine University and an MBA in Strategy and Organizational Behavior from the University of Chicago: combined with her board service and community engagement, suggests she brings both technical depth and strategic thinking to the role.
The Bottom Line for Food and Beverage Professionals
Dawn Foods’ decision to create this new senior vice president role and hire Kangas sends a clear message about their priorities and growth strategy. For bakery suppliers, food service companies, and retail partners, this investment in operational leadership should translate into improved service and potentially new capabilities.
For competitors, it’s a reminder that standing still isn’t an option in today’s food and beverage landscape. Companies that invest in operational excellence and experienced leadership are positioning themselves to capture market share from those that don’t.
As Kangas settles into her new role, it will be interesting to watch how Dawn’s operational capabilities evolve and what new opportunities that creates for their extensive network of customers and partners across the food and beverage industry.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
