THOMASVILLE, Ga., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO), producer of Nature's Own, Wonder, Tastykake, Dave's Killer Bread, and other bakery foods, today announced that Mark Chaffin has been named chief information officer, effective immediately. Chaffin, who has served as Flowers' interim CIO since September 2019, is responsible for Flowers' information technology strategy and operations, reporting to R. Steve Kinsey, Flowers Foods' chief financial officer and chief administrative officer.
"Mark brings a strong focus on accountability and best practices in technology and process," Kinsey said. "He has extensive experience guiding IT teams and has done an outstanding job as interim CIO. We're pleased he's come on board."
In commenting on his new position, Chaffin noted, "My time as interim CIO of Flowers Foods allowed me to discover our shared values and a common vision for transforming business through the power of technology. I look forward to supporting Flowers' continued growth and evolution, and I am honored to continue to lead this outstanding team of technology professionals who are passionate about serving our customers and their fellow employees every day."
Before joining Flowers, Chaffin was a partner in Fortium Partners' Southeast practice, focusing on IT strategy, business process improvement, technology commercialization and analytics. He previously served as CIO at sgsco, a global package and brand design and marketing company and was CIO of Acosta Sales and Marketing in Jacksonville, Fla. Prior to that, Chaffin founded Florida Technology, a firm focused on business intelligence and application development. He also launched and operated the national business intelligence practice for Avanade, a global professional services company founded as a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft. Chaffin holds a bachelor's degree from Jacksonville University.
About Flowers Foods Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of fresh packaged bakery foods in the United States with 2018 sales of $4.0 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Wonder, Dave's Killer Bread, and Tastykake. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to current expectations regarding long-term strategic and other objectives of management and the expected benefits of the management changes and are often identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," "is likely to," "is expected to" or "will continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those projected. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements contained in this release and that may affect the company's prospects in general include, but are not limited to, (a) general economic and business conditions and the competitive conditions in the baked foods industry, including promotional and price competition, (b) changes in consumer demand for our products, including changes in consumer behavior, trends and preferences, including health and whole grain trends, and the movement toward more inexpensive store-branded products, (c) the success of productivity improvements and new product introductions, (d) a significant reduction in business with any of our major customers including a reduction from adverse developments in any of our customer's business, including as a result of product recalls or safety concerns related to our products, (e) fluctuations in commodity pricing, (f) energy and raw material costs and availability and hedging and counterparty risk, (g) our ability to fully integrate recent acquisitions into our business, (h) our ability to achieve cash flow from capital expenditures and acquisitions and the availability of new acquisitions that build shareholder value, (i) our ability to successfully implement our business strategies, including those strategies the company has initiated under Project Centennial, which may involve, among other things, the integration of recent acquisitions or the acquisition or disposition of assets at presently targeted values, the deployment of new systems and technology and an enhanced organizational structure, (j) consolidation within the baking industry and related industries, (k) disruptions in our direct-store delivery system, including litigation or an adverse ruling from a court or regulatory or government body that could affect the independent contractor classification of our independent distributors, (l) increasing legal complexity and legal proceedings that we are or may become subject to, (m) product recalls or safety concerns related to our products, and (n) the failure of our information technology systems to perform adequately, including any interruptions, intrusions or security breaches of such systems. The foregoing list of important factors does not include all such factors, nor necessarily present them in order of importance. In addition, you should consult other public disclosures made by the company, including the risk factors included in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and disclosures made in other filings with the SEC and company press releases, for other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the company. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date made and are inherently uncertain. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update such statements, except as required by law.
