Meadow Foods Appoints Three Directors To Board With Significant Global Food Industry Experience

CHESTER, England, Jan. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Meadow Foods, the UK's largest independently owned dairy group and a leading supplier of ingredients to the food industry, today announced that John ("Jack") Anton, James Lambert OBE and Lindsey Pownall OBE have been appointed to the Meadow Foods Board of Directors.

Mr. Anton currently serves as an Operating Director of Paine & Partners, which made a strategic investment in Meadow Foods in September 2016. He previously was Chairman, CEO and co-owner of Ghiradelli Chocolate Company and prior to that was Chairman and co-owner of Carlin Foods Corporation. Mr. Lambert is currently the Chairman of a number of companies including Burton's Biscuit Co. and Wagg Foods Limited, and was previously founder, Chairman and CEO of R&R Ice Cream. Ms. Pownall most recently served as CEO of Samworth Brothers and is currently a non-executive Director of Tesco PLC.

"We are pleased to welcome Jack, James and Lindsey to the Meadow Foods Board.  The addition of their complementary expertise, notably in food ingredient and food manufacturing, will help drive the continued development of our business," said Simon Chantler, Executive Chairman of Meadow Foods. "All three of these highly-qualified directors have a history of successfully growing leading food businesses globally, and we are confident that Meadow Foods will benefit from their experience as we continue to create new opportunities for our producer partners, customers and employees."

Dexter Paine, Chairman, CEO and a founding partner of Paine & Partners, added, "Meadow Foods has a strong leadership team and these new directors bring important additional expertise and fresh perspectives to the Company.  Importantly, we believe that they will help guide Meadow Foods' strategies as the Company continues to grow organically and expand into new product lines and markets."

About Jack Anton
Mr. Anton joined Paine & Partners as an Operating Director in 2006 and was previously with the Paine & Partners' Predecessor Firm, which he joined in 2005. Mr. Anton brings over 35 years of experience leading organizations and acting as an investor in the worldwide food, consumer products and specialty ingredients industries. From 2001 through 2004, he was a Senior Advisory Director with Fremont Partners, a private equity firm, where he was instrumental in the acquisition and successful divestiture of Specialty Brands Inc. Prior to Fremont, Mr. Anton was Chairman, CEO and co-owner of Ghiradelli Chocolate Company. He led the acquisition of Ghiradelli in 1992 and was responsible for revitalizing the company's brand, marketing programs and growth prior to transitioning Ghiradelli to its new ownership. From 1983 to 1990, Mr. Anton served as Chairman and co-owner of Carlin Foods Corporation, a national food ingredient company serving the dairy, baking and food service industries. Prior to forming Carlin Foods, he spent nearly 20 years in management and executive roles at Ralston Purina and Nabisco Brands Corporations.

About James Lambert OBE
Mr. Lambert served as CEO and Chairman of R&R Ice Cream, Europe's largest private label ice cream manufacturer until 2015. During his time at R&R, the company completed a number of acquisitions including the ice cream division of Allied Frozen Foods, Nestlé Ice Cream's UK business, Eskigel and YooMoo. R&R was acquired by Oaktree Capital Management and then by PAI Partners. Previously, he served in a number of roles for the predecessor company, Richmond Ice Cream, which he joined in 1987 as Managing Director. Before Richmond Ice Cream, Mr. Lambert worked at Herdwise, where he was appointed Managing Director and joint owner in 1985. Mr. Lambert was named EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. Currently, Mr. Lambert serves as the Chairman of the Boards of Animalcare Group plc, Burton's Biscuit Co, Wagg Foods Limited and Whitman Howard, and non-executive Director of Story Homes.

About Lindsey Pownall OBE
Ms. Pownall was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Samworth Brothers, a Leicester, U.K.-based food manufacturer where over her four years as CEO, the company achieved significant top-line growth and strong returns, completed two acquisitions and recruited a new executive board. Ms. Pownall originally joined Samworth Brothers in 1995 as Commercial Manager of Walkers and Sons Ltd and later served in a variety of roles across a number of businesses as Sales Director, Marketing Director and Managing Director. In 2001 she joined the board of Samworth Brothers and went on to Chair the various businesses in the group.  Ms. Pownall is currently a non-executive Director of Tesco PLC.

About Meadow Foods
Meadow Foods is the UK's largest independently owned dairy group and leading supplier of dairy ingredients to the food industry. Meadow Foods currently handles more than 500 million litres of milk each year direct from over 550 farmer suppliers from across the North of England, Midlands and North & West Wales. The company, founded in 1992, operates from factories in Chester, Peterborough and Holme-on-Spalding Moor and now employs more than 275 people.

About Paine & Partners
Paine & Partners is a private equity firm that focuses on complex investment opportunities in the fast-growing, dynamic global food and agribusiness sectors. Paine & Partners' team includes 25 investment, operations and finance professionals focused on investing globally across the food and agribusiness value chain. The firm currently invests through its $893 million Paine & Partners Fund IV, which is solely dedicated to food and agribusiness investing. For further information, see www.painepartners.com.

Meadow contact:
Louis Hill
The Source Partnership 
Tel: 01829 720 789
Mob:  07788 928 191
[email protected]

SOURCE Meadow Foods