Tim Shanley is a successful CEO with repeated strategic, mid-teens-multiple exits in the CPG space. This includes the sale of VFF to B&G Foods, Maxi (Dino Buddies) to Purdue, Carvel to Rich Products, and TTF to Amylu Foods. He specializes in value creation via transforming teams, building culture, and fostering ownable Brand identity. His unique background (leadership, engineering, branding, sales, manufacturing) in family-owned businesses across a variety of categories (meat, confection, ice cream, coffee, sauces) is ideally suited to support lower/middle market businesses. This is evidenced in awards such as Category Leadership, Plant of the Year, and Edison Innovation Awards.
He is currently an Operating Partner with Huron Capital having retired from daily leadership. Besides business roles on the boards of Monday Night Brewery, Lavit, etc, he is heavily involved in community support as co-Chair (with wife Cindy) of the Reagan Sloane Shanley Fund for the intellectually challenged, and Chapter President of the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation. He is also Treasurer of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking.
As CEO/Chairman of Tall Tree Foods he re-built the management team, tightened its focus, and repositioning the “ethnic” brands to be truly noticeable but more efficient through a consolidated go-to-market. The branded business more than doubled even after a 60% SKU rationalization, the COVID effect on the meat industry, and a plant expansion and consolidation. Besides ensuring adherence to the strategic plan, he was a mentor to the skilled but young MT.
Prior to TTF he was interim CEO of Ronnoco Beverage Solutions. He steadied the ship through key changes, tight resource controls, and needed cultural change before bringing in a long-term colleague of his as permanent CEO. He remained on the board and actively helped the CEO manage through COVID and the successful exit.
Tim’s first partnership with Huron was on Victoria Fine Food’s Board. He was then asked to take over as CEO. He designed a value creation plan built on developing a break-out brand, bringing on a passionate, results focused management team, and professionalizing all aspects of the organization. Under his leadership VFF doubled branded sales, tripled EBITDA via operational excellence, increased distribution by over 40%, and became the clear choice of modern shoppers (8X the premium category leader Raos; almost 2X mainstream Prego on social media). The team overhauled the business, leading to a strong balance sheet and flexible organization, and a great sale to B&G Foods.
Tim was previously President/CEO of Celebration Foods/Carvel. He was responsible for building the company into the category leader and creating an inspiring balance sheet before orchestrating its sale to Rich Products, one of the largest bakery/desert companies in the world, under extremely favorable terms. Sales increased over 70% and EBITDA more than quadrupled. Under his leadership, CF received five Category Colonel Awards and Six Frozen Food Age Category Leadership Awards as the clear marketing and innovation leader, as well as two Plant of the Year awards including the 2009 Food Engineering Plant of the Year for its single source, state of the art facility in CT.
Prior to CF, Mr. Shanley spent 13 years at Mars Inc. in increasing leadership rolls across a variety of businesses and functions included Branding/Marketing, National Sales, Product Development, Engineering, and plant management. Accomplishments include creating the industry setting Co-Marketing department, winning Edison Awards for SNICKERS® Ice Cream Cones and Starburst® Yogurt bars and increasing margins on established power brands.
Tim is an avid fly fisherman and has traveled as far as Mongolia seeking new experiences. He is married to Cindy, Global Marketing Director for Edgewell Holdings. They have a 14-year-old boy (TK) and 13-year-old girl (Reagan).
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
EDUCATION
Expertise: CPG, Food & Beverage, Ingredients, Brand Development
For more than three decades, Carter Morse & Goodrich has excelled at maximizing shareholder value for our clients and leading transactions through to successful completion.
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