BrightPet Appoints Former President of Champion Foods Dave Kowal as CEO
BrightPet Nutrition Group, a leading provider of premium and super-premium pet food and treats owned by affiliates of Alvarez & Marsal Capital Partners (AMCP) and management, recently announced that Dave Kowal has been named as the Company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Kowal was selected after a robust search process and brings decades of experience scaling respected food, grocery and industrial companies to his role at BrightPet, which has continued to strengthen its leadership in the pet food and treat industry through recent acquisitions and other growth initiatives. Most recently, Kowal served as President of Champion Foods, a Michigan-based manufacturer of quality food products for private label and store brands, where he achieved a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent (compared to the industry standard of 1 percent.)
“Dave is an incredibly skilled executive and we are thrilled to have him join our leadership team,” said Matthew Golladay, former President and third-generation stakeholder at BrightPet. “In addition to his wealth of relevant knowledge and experience, he brings an energy and skillset that aligns well with our appetite for substantial future growth. We are looking forward to working with him while we continue to grow BrightPet. We believe Dave’s food industry knowledge and experience will help us continue to strengthen our product offerings and the services we offer to our valuable customer base.”
With Kowal’s appointment as CEO, Golladay will transition to a role focused on expanding manufacturing opportunities with both domestic and international customers, while remaining actively involved in driving the company’s overall strategy and operations.
“I am excited to be joining the team at such an important, transformative moment in BrightPet’s history,” said Dave Kowal, Chief Executive Officer of BrightPet. “With the acquisition of MiracleCorp in January, the BrightPet team has done a remarkable job of continuing its rapid expansion of the manufacturing and distribution footprint of its impressive roster of trusted brands. I plan to bring my expertise to bear as we continue to drive growth on all fronts.”
“Over the past few years, the pet food and treat industry has continued to expand quickly we believe as a result of the growing perception of pets as family members, the proliferation of small- and medium-sized pet food brands with substantial outsourcing needs and the increased penetration of e-commerce and high demand for U.S.-produced premium pet food,” said Ryan McCarthy, Partner at AMCP. “We partnered with the BrightPet team to help grow the business through strategic acquisitions, expansion of the Company’s sales channels and product portfolio and an increase in its market penetration – and we expect to continue this work in close partnership with Dave Kowal. We are focused on supporting BrightPet to further expand support for existing customers, accelerate growth and attract top talent from around the pet food industry.”