Meadow Foods, the United Kingdom’s largest independently owned dairy group and a leading supplier of ingredients to the food industry, announced on January 13 that James Lambert OBE, John Anton and Lindsey Pownall OBE have been appointed to its board of directors.
James Lambert OBELambert, who founded R&R Ice Cream and previously was its chairman and chief executive officer, is currently the chairman of a number of companies including Burton’s Biscuit Co. and Wagg Foods Limited. While at the helm of R&R he completed a number of acquisitions including the ice cream division of Allied Frozen Foods, Nestlé Ice Cream’s UK business, Eskigel and YooMoo. R&R was acquired by Oaktree Capital Management and later by PAI Partners.
Anton presently serves as an operating director of Paine & Partners, which made a strategic investment in Meadow Foods in September of 2016. Previously he was chairman, ceo and co-owner of Ghiradelli Chocolate Company, and prior to that was chairman and co-owner of Carlin Foods Corporation.
Pownall most recently served as ceo of Samworth Brothers, a Leicester, England-based food manufacturer, and is currently a non-executive director of Tesco PLC.
“We are pleased to welcome them to the board. The addition of their complementary expertise, notably in food ingredient and food manufacturing, will help drive the continued development of our business,” said Simon Chantler, executive chairman of Chester, Cheshire, England-headquartered Meadow Foods. “All three have a history of successfully growing leading food businesses globally, and we are confident that benefit will come from their experience as we continue to create new opportunities for our producer partners, customers and employees.”
About Meadow Foods
Last year Meadow Foods supplied over 100,000 tons of dairy ingredients to manufacturers operating in ice cream, prepared foods, bakery and confectionary sectors. It handles more than 500 million liters of milk each year sourced from over 550 farmer suppliers across the North of England, Midlands and North & West Wales. The company, founded in 1992, has production plants in Chester, Peterborough and Holme-on-Spalding Moor.
