Freshpet announces CFO transition plan

Freshpet Inc. announced on Friday its chief financial officer transition plan.

Dick Kassar, the Secaucus-based pet food manufacturer’s current CFO, will shift into the advisory role of vice chairman, effective Sept. 30, 2020.

In this newly-created role, Kassar will be tasked with providing strategic advice and support to the Freshpet management team and board of directors as the company pursues its mission to improve the lives of pets through fresh food.

Freshpet also announced it appointed Heather Pomerantz to executive vice president of finance, effective Jan. 13, 2020. Pomerantz, who is the current vice president of finance, North America for The Nature’s Bounty Co., will be responsible for various strategic projects and will work closely alongside Kassar.

“We are excited to welcome Heather to Freshpet.  We believe she has the skills and experiences necessary as we take Freshpet to the next level of growth in 2020 and beyond.  Heather has the analytical and strategic acumen we will need as we embark on our capacity expansion plan and continue to build the organization and systems capabilities to support Freshpet’s growth. As a proud pet parent to two dogs, Heather is passionate about our mission to change the way people feed their pets,” Billy Cyr, CEO of Freshpet, said.

Mr. Cyr continued, “We are very grateful to Dick for all he has done and continues to do during his tenure to make Freshpet a success. He has been an integral part of the Freshpet team since its inception helping to lead us through rapid growth, particularly as the company successfully transitioned from a privately-held to publicly-traded company.  Few executives have the range of skills needed to master so many phases of a company’s rapid growth – and Dick has all of them. We are very thankful for his willingness to continue to provide his wisdom as we go through this transition and continue to execute on our strategic growth objectives.”

Prior to her role at The Nature’s Bounty, Pomerantz spent time in finance and operations at Unilever and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.