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| Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
(b) On March 8, 2011, The J. M. Smucker Company (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing that, effective August 16, 2011, Richard K. Smucker, Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will be the sole Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Richard K. Smucker will no longer serve as the Executive Chairman of the Company but will continue to serve as a member of the Board of Directors (the “Board”). Effective August 16, 2011, Timothy P. Smucker, Chairman of the Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will no longer serve as a Co-Chief Executive Officer but will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board.
(c) On March 8, 2011, the Company also announced that, effective May 1, 2011, Vincent C. Byrd, 56, the Company’s President, U.S. Retail – Coffee, will assume the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Byrd will continue to serve as a member of the Board, a position he has held since April 1999. Mr. Byrd has been the Company’s President, U.S. Retail – Coffee since 2008 and, prior to that time, he served as the Senior Vice President, Consumer Market since February 2004. Mr. Byrd is also a director, and a member of the audit and compensation committees, of Myers Industries, Inc., a publicly traded international manufacturer of polymer products for industrial, agricultural, automotive, commercial, and consumer markets.
There is no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Byrd and any other persons pursuant to which he was elected to his new position with the Company, and there is no family relationship between Mr. Byrd and any directors or executive officers of the Company. Mr. Byrd is not currently engaged, and has not during the last fiscal year been engaged, in any transactions with the Company or its subsidiaries that are required to be disclosed under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K, nor have any such transactions been proposed.
Item 8.01 Other Events.
On March 8, 2011, the Company also announced that, effective May 1, 2011, Mark T. Smucker, President, Special Markets, will assume the position of President, U.S. Retail Coffee; Paul Smucker Wagstaff, President, U.S. Retail – Oils and Baking, will assume the position of President, U.S. Retail Consumer Foods; Barry C. Dunaway, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Organization Development, will assume the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer; and Steven Oakland, President, U.S. Retail – Smucker’s, Jif and Hungry Jack, will assume the position of President, International, Foodservice and Natural Foods.
A copy of the press release issued by the Company, dated March 8, 2011, announcing these organizational changes is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference into this Item 8.01.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits