Global fresh produce company Halls has announced the resignation of CEO Craig McBain, who joined the company in February 2012 and leaves next month to pursue personal interests.
During McBain’s time as CEO, growth at Halls has been explosive, with significant expansion of its production capacity and operational footprint in Europe.
“The CEO role is incredibly rewarding as much as it is challenging, particularly within a business and industry that has gone through the extensive transformation and growth that has been experienced over the past six years,” says McBain. “New phases of a business’s evolution often require new leadership and I believe that Halls is no different. As the business enters the next phase of growth, the time feels right for me to hand over to a new leader with fresh energy.”
McBain will be succeeded on 1 May by Tracey Davies, who joins Halls from Deltamune, a wholly owned subsidiary of the HL Hall & Sons group of companies involved in biotechnology and food safety.
Davies has previous worked at four major South African companies, namely National Starch, Bestfoods Robertsons, Unilever SA and AECI, gaining experience in the food ingredients and processing industries, food retail, foodservice and fast food markets.
In 2016, Davies joined Deltamune as CEO, leading the business through a transformation process to reinvent the value proposition and cement a strong leadership team.
“I am delighted to be joining Halls, a business with such a significant history spanning over 125 years,” she said. “The company has progressed tremendously in recent years and is well set for future growth and expansion. I am looking forward to being part of their dynamic team.”
Peter Backwell, managing director of the HL Hall & Sons group, paid tribute to McBain’s “immense” contribution to the growth of the business, stressing the brightness of Halls’s future in the global avocado market.
