MILWAUKEE — Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday that its president and chief executive, Dick Bond, will step down immediately and be replaced by a former CEO as the world's largest meat processor continues to weather a downturn in the industry.
Bond, who had been CEO since 2006, will be replaced on an interim basis by former chairman and Chief Executive Leland Tollett, the Springdale, Ark.-based com pany said in a news release. Tollett was CEO from 1995 until he retired in 1998 after nearly 40 years with the company.
The appointment shows that as the beleaguered meat company navigates an industry plagued by volatile commodity costs and an oversupply of meat that is exacerbating already-weak chicken prices, Tyson doesn't plan to experiment, said analyst Chris Bledsoe of Barclay's Capital.
"He's not a spring chicken," Bledsoe said of Tollett, 71. "I think it was a prudent thing to bring in someone with this kind of operating experience."
Tyson Foods has done non-investment banking business with Barclay's in the past 12 months, according to a spokeswoman.
Tollett is likely to push forward Tyson's recent efforts to shutter unprofitable plants and cut costs in meat production, Bledsoe said.
Bond is the second CEO to leave a major meat producer in less than a month. Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride Inc., the nation's largest chicken producer, announced shortly after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that Clint Rivers would resign as president and chief executive.
It's not clear when business will improve for the meat industry. Although commodity costs have retreated from record highs this summer, there's still a glut of meat on the market, which keeps prices down.
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