Tyson Foods Names Donnie King COO in Reorg

Tyson Foods is reorganizing operations and has named Donnie King chief operating officer as part of this.

The No. 9 consumer goods company said the changes are intended to improve operational agility, customer experience and speed of innovation to market, and it will provide each of its four business segments with the necessary resources and structure to enable quicker response.

Customer sales will be embedded with each segment to more quickly deliver on their needs.

“Consumer preferences are changing and evolving at a rapid pace,” said Dean Banks, president and CEO, in a statement. “We must accelerate our pace of change to not only meet but exceed our customers’ expectations while delivering high quality, innovative products. That’s why we’re adapting our organization to enable our businesses to respond rapidly to the changing environment.”

The company reported e-commerce sales growth of 89% in its most recent quarter, propelled by consumer desire for contactless shopping.

King is currently group president of poultry, a position he took in September 2020 and will retain. He’s been with the company since 1982 and held a range poultry plant, complex and supply chain management roles. He also previously served as president of North American operations and group president of international.  

 “We must simplify and focus our structure to facilitate faster operational decision making, and we must remove obstacles to provide an unmatched customer experience,” King said. “This is part of an ongoing process of aligning resources around our business segment structure to ensure Tyson Foods is able to meet customers’ needs where they are and in real time.”

The group presidents of the fresh meats, prepared foods and international divisions will report to King, as will the chief customer officer.