Dive Brief:
- The American Egg Board chose Anne Alonzo as its new president and CEO, according to an Agri-Pulse report.
- Alonzo recently left her position as administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service last month, a position she held since May 2013. Before working for the USDA, Alonzo spent six years as vice president of global public policy at Kraft Foods.
- Alonzo would replace Joanne Ivy, who retired in October after 40 years in the egg industry. Ivy's departure came just as the USDA was ramping up an investigation of the organization.
Dive Insight:
Serena Schaffner, AEB's director of marketing communications, told Agri-Pulse, "We'd be happy to provide you with a formal announcement of new AEB leadership in early March following our upcoming board meeting."
Questions rose about activities the AEB took part in following the release of a series of emails obtained by the Associated Press. These moves — like a consultant contacting Whole Foods on behalf of the board to have Just Mayo removed from the store's shelves, though it didn't — were allegedly meant to derail competitor Hampton Creek.
In a recent turn of events, Unilever debuted its own eggless mayonnaise under the Hellmann's brand. The company calls the product a "dressing and sandwich spread." Hampton Creek was able to keep its name after making a series of changes to its Just Mayo label.