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Foremost Farms USA announces Brenda Dehart as its new Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Leadership Team, effective February 5. Dehart is responsible for developing and managing the cooperative’s financial strategy, planning analysis, and reporting of short-and long-term financial objectives with additional oversight of legal.
"Brenda Dehart’s strategic financial acumen and experience are an excellent fit for Foremost Farms,” said Greg Schlafer, President and CEO of Foremost Farms. "She has an extensive finance background and a proven leadership track record that will contribute to the cooperative’s future. We are thrilled to welcome her to our team.”
Dehart brings more than 30 years of food manufacturing and executive finance experience to Foremost Farms. Most recently, she served as the CFO for Edlong - an international dairy flavor manufacturer serving the food and beverage industry, where she had direct responsibility for all accounting and information technology departments.
Prior to Edlong, Brenda worked at Sensient Technologies, a NYSE-listed North American specialty chemical and flavors company, generating $1.68B in revenue selling products to food, fermentation and nutritional products companies. She held roles of progressive responsibility, including Global General Manager - BioNutrients Division.
Previously, Brenda was employed by Kerry, Inc., an ISEQ and LSE-listed manufacturer of food and beverage ingredients, concentrates, and flavor products generating $8B in annual revenue, where she led all aspects of Finance, along with Operations and Quality, for the flagship Cheese and Dairy Specialty Ingredient business of Kerry Americas.
"I am honored to join Foremost Farms," said Dehart. "It will be exciting to collaborate with a talented team and contribute to the company's financial success and growth.”
Dehart holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and an undergraduate degree in business finance from Concordia University – Wisconsin, and she serves on the Board of Directors for Female Strong Chicago.
As Foremost Farms welcomes Dehart, it bids farewell to its current CFO Bob Bascom, who announced his well-deserved retirement after a long and successful career, with more than six years of dedicated service to Foremost Farms. The transition between CFOs will be seamless, with Bascom participating in Dehart’s onboarding process to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities.
ABOUT FOREMOST FARMS USA
Foremost Farms USA® is a dairy cooperative representing hundreds of Midwest dairy farmer members located across seven Midwest states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin – America’s Dairyland. It is one of the largest, leading dairy cooperatives in the United States and a major food manufacturing business. Every year, Foremost Farms produces millions of pounds of cheese, butter, whey and milk protein ingredients from the high-quality milk produced by its members. Its customers represent respected top brands and category leaders at national and regional levels in retail and foodservice channels, that are served with innovative solutions, technical services and customized products. For more information call 800-362-9196 or see foremostfarms.com.
