Robert S. Chambers has been named chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Atlanta, Georgia-headquartered Americold, effective September 1. His appointment follows George Chappelle’s decision to retire from the company and board following a distinguished four-decade career.
Chambers (pictured above) has extensive leadership experience in warehouse and supply chain management, as well as considerable financial and operational expertise. He currently serves as Americold’s president, overseeing the company’s global operations including commercial strategy, sales, engineering, development, information technology, customer experience, and supply chain innovation. Throughout his 12-year career with Americold he has played a key role in shaping commercial business practices and corporate strategy across a variety of end-market conditions.
Beyond his experience with Americold, Chambers has a broad background in supply chain and logistics, including serving as chief financial officer of Saia Inc., a publicly listed transportation and logistics company, as well as leadership roles at CEVA Logistics.
“Rob is a seasoned industry executive with deep institutional and industry knowledge,” said Mark Patterson, Americold’s chairman of the board and chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committees. “His contributions to the business over the past 12 years have been instrumental to Americold’s success, and his strategic vision and experience make him the ideal leader to guide the company, its people and investments into the future.”
“I’m honored to take on the chief executive officer role for Americold and look forward to working alongside our talented and dedicated team of associates around the globe,” said Chambers. “We have an opportunity to build on our reputation for service and operational excellence and position Americold as the provider of choice to the world’s largest food manufacturers, distributors and retailers.”
Americold is a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics and real estate, operating more than 230 facilities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and South America totaling approximately 1.5 billion refrigerated cubic feet of refrigerated space.
