Avena Foods appoints brewing industry veteran Wayne Arsenault as its new CEO

The specialty milling company hired the executive to replace retiring CEO Gord Flaten.

Photo: Pixabay/Pexels

Avena Foods Ltd. has announced the appointment of Wayne Arsenault as its new CEO, following the retirement of Gord Flaten.

According to the company, Arsenault is known as a collaborative, transformational leader with extensive leadership experience in the food, beverage, and pet food industries.

“We welcome Wayne’s customer-first approach, which was developed over years in strategic management, manufacturing, and brand development. His passion for building partnerships and empowering teams strongly aligns with Avena’s vision of ‘Partnering for safe, healthy diets and a sustainable world,’” says Pete Samson, Avena board chair.

Arsenault set up his first company at age 16. By age 29, he was the youngest plant manager in the Coca-Cola Enterprises system, responsible for the Toronto, Ontario plant. He then went on to become general manager at Molson Canadian, where he was awarded ‘best-performing brewery’ honors for two consecutive years.

Over the years he has held a number of leadership roles, including president and CEO of Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery, then vice president of operations and human resources, and vice president/alignment Champion at Moosehead Breweries.

Avena Foods is a specialty miller that provides food, beverage, and pet food manufacturers worldwide with sustainably grown and milled functional pulse flours, grit and fibers, and purity protocol gluten-free oat ingredients.

Jenni Spinner is the chief editor of Snack Food and Wholesale with more than 25 years of experience in business-to-business communications. She has written extensively about food production, safety and packaging; pharmaceutical drug development; concrete and masonry construction; and more. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from the University of Illinois. Jenni can be reached at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.

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