Advantage Solutions Connects Brands, Retailers & People

Dave Peacock was named Advantage Solutions CEO in January 2023. His 30-plus-year career in the consumer packaged goods and retail industry includes four years as president and chief operating officer of Schnuck Markets, Inc., and two decades at Anheuser-Busch, where he served three years as the company’s president.

Prior to joining Advantage, Peacock was chief operating officer and on the board of directors of Continental Grain Company, a global investor, owner and operator of companies across the food and agribusiness spectrum. Previously, he was a member of the board of advisors for, and was the founder and chairman of, Vitaligent, LLC, a multi-unit restaurant franchise.

He is a member of the board of directors of Stifel Financial Corp. and past member of the board of directors of Wayne-Sanderson Farms and Post Holdings Partnership Corporation. He also is a member of the board of directors for FMI-The Food Industry Association. He also served on the board of trustees of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the board of directors of Pink Ribbon Girls.

Chris Growe leads all aspects of Advantage Solutions’ finance organization, including investor relations, accounting, payroll, treasury and tax.

He has more than 25 years of finance and investment experience, most recently at Stifel, a global wealth management, investment banking and investment advisory firm. As a managing director in the consumer and retail sector, Growe covered food and tobacco stocks and offered guidance to institutional investors. He is the recipient of multiple awards for his work at Stifel, including several Financial Times/StarMine awards for earnings estimates and stock picking. He has also been honored by The Wall Street Journal with the Best on the Street Survey Award. Prior to Stifel, Growe was an analyst covering food, beverage and tobacco stocks with A.G. Edwards. He spent his early career in marketing at Anheuser-Busch.

Kelli Hammersmith leads all aspects of Advantage Solutions’ corporate narrative, including internal, external and executive communications.

Previously she led global executive and internal communications at Northern Trust. Earlier in her career, Hammersmith held communications leadership roles at Kohl’s and Molson Coors Beverage Company. She began her career as a journalist, reporting for television stations in Peoria, Illinois, and Milwaukee, where she also served as a bilingual reporter.

Brian McRoskey leads Advantage Solutions’ growth and transformation team with a dual focus on accelerating the company’s growth and optimizing its operations. In addition to partnering with Advantage Solutions business segments to drive success against long-range plans, McRoskey oversees a portfolio of transformational initiatives designed to evolve the business and position Advantage for profitable growth.

Prior to joining Advantage Solutions, he spent 17 years at Bain & Company, where he collaborated with some of the best-known consumer products companies in the world to develop and execute strategies to help grow their businesses. Most recently he led the Commercial Excellence capability within CPG. As part of this work, McRoskey advised senior sales leadership on driving top-line growth via salesforce effectiveness, key account management, revenue growth management, and overall sales execution. During his time at Bain & Company, McRoskey also led research and deep analysis around insurgent brands, serving as an industry expert on fast-growing brands.

Pamela Morris-Thornton leads all aspects of Advantage Solutions’ human resources function.

She previously spent 15 years at Panera Bread, including serving as the head of diversity, equity and inclusion and leading Panera’s talent acquisition, executive recruiting and the HR business partner practice. Earlier in her career, Morris-Thornton served in human resources leadership roles at the Metropolitan St. Louis Transit Agency and Graybar.

Jack Pestello leads the Branded Services division, which provides industry-leading headquarter sales services, retail services and business process outsourcing for brands and retailers across all channels of trade in the U.S. and Canada.

He most recently served as a senior advisor in Boston Consulting Group’s consumer practice, partnering primarily with retail and manufacturing CEOs on growth strategies, operational and organizational design, merchandising, sustainability and product development. Previously, Pestello was executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Big Lots, where he led the omnichannel merchant team and was responsible for buying, planning, financial services, pricing and promotions. He spent seven years with Walmart, where he led an omnichannel portfolio across the company’s largest merchandise division. His time with Walmart also included leading private brands and leading merchandise strategies in the retailer’s international division. Pestello spent 20 years with Daymon in leadership roles overseeing private brands and business development. His global experience includes serving as the head of trade for Woolworth’s Australia Limited.

Bryce Robinson is responsible for oversight of Advantage Solutions’ legal department, providing counsel regarding a wide variety of business matters, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, international joint ventures, private equity transactions, compliance, corporate governance and commercial contracts.

Robinson’s career includes in-house and external counsel roles. Prior to joining Advantage, he was senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at InSight Health, a healthcare services company.

Michael Taylor leads Advantage Solutions’ global retailer-focused businesses and teams, which provide end-to-end retail solutions. His portfolio includes private brands powered by Daymon, retail services powered by SAS, retail media solutions and more.

Taylor previously served as president of Daymon. Earlier in his career, he held leadership positions spanning retail, business management and business development. Taylor began his career with PepsiCo Inc.

Francesco Tinto leads Advantage Solutions’ digital strategy, including its technology transformation, information technology team and enterprise AI strategy.

He most recently served as global chief information officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, where he oversaw the company’s digital transformation, launching a world-class digital experience and customer insights platform that delivered personalized offerings and blended the online and offline customer experiences. He previously led the technology integration between Kraft and Heinz and, as the global chief information officer for the merged Kraft Heinz company, defined the go-forward information technology operating processes. Tinto began his career at Procter & Gamble in information technology and services in Rome.

Andrea Young oversees the Experiential Services commercial segment for Advantage Solutions, including Advantage’s global sampling, demo, member experience and brand activation business across 12 countries and multiple retail channels globally.

Young joined Advantage Solutions in 2011 and has been instrumental in helping to establish the company as the global, market-share leader in Experiential Services, with appointments along the way that included: senior vice president sales and marketing, Integrated Marketing Services; president, Experiential Marketing Services; and president, Global Customer Experience.

Prior to joining Advantage in 2011, Young held senior-level positions at companies such as The Marketing Arm, National In-Store Marketing and U.S. Marketing and Promotions.

Young is a founding member of the Advantage Solutions Diversity, Equity & Inclusion board, and remains an active member of all Belonging and Impact initiatives at the company.

James M. Kilts is a renowned leader in the consumer goods industry, with more than 40 years of experience leading a range of companies and iconic brands. He is a founding partner of Centerview Capital Consumer, a strategic investment firm that has held an ownership interest in Advantage Solutions since 2014.

Kilts also serves as chairman of the board of directors of The Simply Good Foods Company. He was previously chairman of the board, CEO and president of Gillette, where he successfully reinvigorated the business and oversaw its sale to The Procter & Gamble Company, subsequently assuming the role of vice chairman of the merged company’s board.

Earlier executive leadership roles include president and CEO of Nabisco, executive vice president of The Philip Morris Companies, president of Kraft USA as well as president of Oscar Mayer.

His prior board service includes Pfizer, Unifi Inc., Nielsen Holdings NV, Big Heart Pet Brands, MetLife Inc. and MeadWestvaco, among others. Kilts also served a two-year term as chairman of the board of the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

Chris Baldwin is a managing partner at CVC Advisors (U.S.). In this role, he is part of the leadership team for the firm’s North American private equity business. Prior to his role at CVC, he served as chairman and CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. and is now chairman at the company. During his time as CEO at BJ’s, Baldwin was chairman of The National Retail Federation, the largest advocacy group for the retail industry in the world.

Previously, Baldwin held the CEO role at Hess Retail, Inc., a large U.S.-based convenience store and fuel retailer. At the end of his tenure at Hess, he led the sale of Hess Retail to Speedway. Earlier in his career, he served in a variety of executive assignments at consumer goods companies, including Procter & Gamble, Mondelēz and Hershey.

Baldwin is a founding board member of Harlem Lacrosse and is past chairman of The Foundation at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, N.J.

Cameron Breitner is a director of Advantage and managing partner with CVC Capital Partners, where he heads CVC’s San Francisco office and oversees CVC’s private equity activities on the West Coast. Prior to joining CVC in 2007, Breitner was a managing partner at Centre Partners. Earlier he worked in mergers and acquisitions at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co.

Breitner serves on the board of directors for the parent holding companies of Petco, PDC Brands, Asplundh and Teneo. He previously served on the board of directors for BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. and Leslie’s Pool Supplies.

Virginie Costa brings more than 20 years of financial and operational experience with brands focused on consumer experience. She has served as group chief financial officer at Wella Company, a global leader in the $100 billion beauty industry, since June 2021.

Costa served as global chief financial officer at Godiva Chocolatier from June 2018 to May 2021. Prior to that, she served as chief financial officer and chief operations officer of Burberry Americas. Earlier in her career, she held a number of executive positions with Hermes of Paris Inc. in New York City, including chief financial officer and chief operating officer. She began her career in public accounting and consulting at KPMG LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP.

Timothy J. Flynn is a director of Advantage and a partner with Leonard Green & Partners L.P. Prior to joining LGP in 2003, he was a director in the investment banking department of Credit Suisse First Boston, which he joined following CSFB’s acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he had been since 1996.

Flynn serves on the boards of the following companies or their affiliates: OMNIA, Pye-Barker, The Container Store, The Wrench Group, Veritext Legal Solutions and Insight Global. He has served on the boards of CCC Information Services, United States Infrastructure Corp. and Tank Holdings Corp., among others. Flynn is the chair of The Container Store’s culture and compensation committee.

Adam Levyn is a partner at Leonard Green & Partners L.P. He joined the firm as an associate in 2011. Previously, he worked in private equity at KKR in its New York office from 2007 to 2009 and in the Global Industrials group of Bear, Stearns & Co. from 2005 to 2007. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Tiffany Han is a director of Advantage and a director at CVC Capital Partners. She is actively involved with CVC Funds’ investments in Petco, PDC Brands and Bruin Sports through the investments of funds advised by CVC.

Han previously worked at UBS Investment Bank in the mergers and acquisition group.

Jody Macedonio is chief financial officer for Meati, a maker of animal-free meat alternatives.

Strategic leadership and people acumen have been hallmarks of Macedonio’s career. Prior to joining Meati in 2022, she was chief financial officer for Chobani. She previously served as chief financial officer for 8th Avenue Food & Provisions and Dean Foods and held senior finance roles at Henkel AG, PepsiCo Inc. and Nestlé/Alcon Laboratories.

Macedonio serves on the board of directors of Nutrabolt, an active health-and-wellness company, and 4word, an organization serving professional women with faith. She previously was a member of the board of directors of Organic Valley Fresh.

Robin Manherz is executive vice president and chief operating officer at SAP SE across sales, services and customer engagement functions worldwide. In this role, she is responsible for operationalizing the company’s strategy through accelerated growth and transformation, including execution of next-generation business and operating models that maximize value for customers.

Manherz brings 25 years of experience in technology and business. Since joining SAP in 2007, she has held an array of executive roles with a focus on capital investment strategy, portfolio planning, industry value engineering, channel management, strategic planning and execution, sales operations and finance. Earlier in her career, she held professional and leadership roles with JD Edwards, USA.NET and QAD.

Adam Nebesar is a managing director in Bain Capital’s consumer, retail and dining vertical and a member of the firm’s North American private equity team focusing on investments in the consumer products and hospitality sectors. He has also played a leading role in Bain Capital’s recruiting and training efforts.

He serves on the board of directors of Dessert Holdings and Virgin Voyages.

Previously, Nebesar was a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and board director for Innocor, TOMS and Sun Dial.

Dave Peacock was named Advantage Solutions CEO in January 2023. His 30-plus-year career in the consumer packaged goods and retail industry includes four years as president and chief operating officer of Schnuck Markets, Inc., and two decades at Anheuser-Busch, where he served three years as the company’s president.

Prior to joining Advantage, Peacock was chief operating officer and on the board of directors of Continental Grain Company, a global investor, owner and operator of companies across the food and agribusiness spectrum. Previously, he was a member of the board of advisors for, and was the founder and chairman of, Vitaligent, LLC, a multi-unit restaurant franchise.

He is a member of the board of directors of Stifel Financial Corp, and past member of the board of directors of Wayne-Sanderson Farms and Post Holdings Partnership Corporation. He also is a member of the board of directors for FMI-The Food Industry Association. He also served on the board of trustees of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the board of directors of Pink Ribbon Girls.

Deborah Poole is an experienced board member and c-suite leader in the consumer goods, consumer technology and e-commerce sectors. She serves on the board of directors of Idelic Inc., CareRev, Lantern, Placemakr and Sendle.

From 2019 to 2021, Poole was chief business officer of WHOOP, a consumer wearable SaaS company, where she was responsible for strategy, enterprise sales and e-commerce operations. She also served as a board director of Drizly, the alcohol delivery e-commerce marketplace, from 2019 until the company was acquired by Uber in 2021.

From 2010 to 2019, Poole held leadership roles at Wayfair LLC, including at Wayfair Canada, which she helped found as general manager. She served as Wayfair’s global head of talent acquisition from 2018 to 2019.

Brian K. Ratzan has been a partner of Centerview Capital Consumer since April 2014. He has more than 20 years of private equity investing experience. Prior to joining Centerview Capital Consumer, Ratzan was partner and head of U.S. private equity at Pamplona Capital Management. He previously served as managing director and head of consumer at Vestar Capital Partners. Earlier in his career, Ratzan worked at 21 International Holdings, a private investment firm, and in the Investment Banking Group at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette.

Ratzan serves as a director on the board of The Simply Good Foods Company. He previously served on the boards of Del Monte Foods, The Sun Products Corporation (formerly known as Huish Detergents Inc.) and Birds Eye Foods Inc.

David J. West is an established leader in the consumer industry, with nearly 30 years of experience leading a range of companies and well-known brands. West became a partner of Centerview Capital Consumer in May 2016. Prior to joining Centerview Capital Consumer, he served as chief executive officer and president of Big Heart Pet Brands (formerly known as Del Monte Foods) from 2011 to 2015. When Big Heart Pet Brands was sold to The J. M. Smucker Company in March 2015, West became president, Big Heart Pet Food and Snacks until 2016.

Prior to joining Del Monte Foods, West served as chief executive officer, president and a director of Hershey from 2007 to 2011, after holding a number of leadership positions at the company, including chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief customer officer. Prior to joining Hershey in 2001, he spent 14 years with the Nabisco Biscuit and Snacks group, where he held a range of senior leadership positions prior to the acquisition of Nabisco Holdings Corp. by The Philip Morris Companies in 2000. At Nabisco, West worked closely with Jim Kilts during Kilts’ tenure as chief executive officer.

West is vice chairman of the board of The Simply Good Foods Company. He previously served on the board of directors of Hershey from 2007 to 2011, Del Monte Foods from 2011 to 2014, Big Heart Pet Brands from 2014 to 2015 and The J. M. Smucker Company from 2015 to 2016.