Sargento announced new developments in leadership, capabilities and operational excellence that support long-term growth. The actions include leadership appointments across food safety & quality, manufacturing and strategic sourcing, as well as a planned transition in the company’s innovation organization.
“At Sargento, our success has always been built on high quality, real food innovation, and a commitment to our stakeholders,” Louie Gentine, third-generation chairman and CEO of Sargento, said in a statement. “As we position our leadership team to guide us into the future, we are strengthening the values that have driven us for generations. I am confident they will lead Sargento with integrity and a commitment to the principles my grandfather, Leonard Gentine, instilled in our company from the very beginning.”
Innovation Leadership
Rod Hogan, senior vice president of innovation, has announced his intent to retire in January 2027. After years of shaping Sargento’s culture, launching some of the company’s most successful products and inspiring the next generation of leaders, Hogan was honored with the Founder’s Ring, the company’s highest recognition. His career has been marked by creativity, kindness, and a commitment to developing others. Sargento is grateful for Rod’s leadership and his profound impact on our vision to be the most innovative, best-loved real food company.
Holly Baumgart will succeed Rod as senior vice president of innovation. Baumgart currently serves as vice president of new platform development at Sargento. Over her tenure, Baumgart has held multiple successful leadership roles across information technology, strategic planning, and new products. Her deep understanding of Sargento’s business, positions her well to lead the next phase of the company’s innovation strategy and execution which has added $1 billion of category growth in the past five years. Baumgart assumes her new responsibilities immediately, while Rod will focus on knowledge transfer and expertise sharing until his retirement in January 2027.
Food Safety, Quality, and Manufacturing
As vice president of food safety and quality, Tim Finnerty will direct Sargento’s food safety and quality assurance strategy, leading the teams and standards that ensure the brand consistently delivers high-quality natural cheese products and ingredients. Finnerty brings more than 12 years of food industry leadership experience building world-class safety cultures and scalable quality systems. He previously served as vice president of food safety, quality and regulatory affairs at DO & CO across North America. He also held executive quality roles at HelloFresh, where his team earned the prestigious Black Pearl Award from the International Association for Food Protection for corporate excellence.
Steve Cahoon has accepted the role of vice president of strategic sourcing after 15 years with Sargento. In this position, Cahoon will lead operational continuity and maintain strong supply chain performance. He previously served as vice president of manufacturing, where he delivered strong operational success and meaningful cost savings while implementing the company’s manufacturing strategy of safety, quality, cost, delivery, people (SQCDP) to align manufacturing teams with Sargento’s corporate strategies. In his new capacity, Cahoon will leverage his deep operational background to drive strategic procurement and supply chain excellence.
Sargento welcomes Jack Lindsay who will lead operations across Sargento’s manufacturing network as the new vice president of manufacturing, succeeding Steve Cahoon in the role to shape operational policies, plan plant capacity, drive efficiency and maintain high safety standards. Lindsay brings more than 14 years of CPG operations leadership experience, with deep expertise in plant management, manufacturing strategy and continuous improvement programs. Before joining Sargento, he served as vice president, operations business lead at Danone North America, overseeing operational performance, capital projects and category growth strategy.