Sam Reed, Chairman of TreeHouse Foods, served as Chief Executive from the company’s spin-off from Dean Foods in 2005, and as President of TreeHouse in 2011. He quickly emerged as an iconic business leader for the private label industry. Based on experience with major branded companies, including Vice Chairman of Kelloggs, and President/CEO of Keebler, among others, he saw at once the importance – for the publicly-traded TreeHouse Foods – of promoting the private label industry in a very public way on Wall Street. Backing up his statements with action, through organic growth and strategic acquisitions under his leadership, he proved again and again the potential of store brands for customers and shareholders, as well as the analysts. Over the past decade, he succeeded in building a multi-billion-dollar private label powerhouse, with operating companies that now include not only Bay Valley Foods, but E.D. Smith, Sturm Foods and S.T. Specialty Foods.