Amy’s Kitchen promotes Xavier Unkovic to CEO
Xavier Unkovic, who joined Amy’s Kitchen in May 2017, has been promoted from president to CEO, the Petaluma-based manufacturer announced Monday.
Company founder and now-former CEO Andy Berliner now serves as executive chairman of the family business, which also includes wife Rachel Berliner, the couple’s daughter, Amy — for whom the company was named — and her husband, Jace. The promotion was effective at the end of June, according to the company.
“At Amy’s, we know that post-COVID, consumers will look to companies across industries to not only act responsibly, but to go far beyond that, making measurable positive impact in our world, whether that’s socially, environmentally or locally,” Unkovic said in the announcement. “Amy’s has always been ahead of the curve doing good by doing well, and we are working diligently to aggressively increase our positive impact.”
In November, Unkovic told the Business Journal his top concern is people, and that was proven during the Kincade Fire, which burned nearly 78,000 acres of northeast Sonoma County before it was extinguished Nov. 6.
“You wake up one day and 600 of your people (have) been displaced, and that is a big stress on the organization,” Unkovic said at the Business Journal’s CEO Roundtable event on Nov. 5 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Rohnert Park. He said it didn’t take long to learn all of Amy’s employees were safe. The next order of business, he said, was to reassure them they would still be paid. “That’s very important because most of the time the people that get the most affected are the ones that have the least. ... When times are most difficult, this is how you stay true to who you are. So taking care of our people was the No. 1 objective.”
Prior to joining Amy's, Unkovic spent 25 years with Mars Incorporated, serving as global president of Mars Drinks, CEO of Royal Canin Canada and CEO of Royal Canin USA, the pet care division of Mars Incorporated.
“It is very difficult to grow and professionalize a company without compromising its magic, and yet Xavier has shown that is possible,” Andy Berliner said in the press release. “And during the past few months, under the stress of the Coronavirus crisis, Xavier has provided exemplary leadership in keeping our employees safe and continuing production for those dependent on our food, leaving us confident that he can help guide the company through challenges that might arise in the future.”
In the release, Amy’s Kitchen also stated it is “taking action to create a more just, equitable and inclusive environment in our workplace and in our community, first, through thorough education and assessment, and then by integrating equality and inclusiveness into our culture and ways of working in a meaningful way.”
“We have a strong vision for the future of Amy’s and the positive impact we can make through our business, and we’re excited to have Xavier at the helm, turning that vision into reality,” Andy Berliner stated.
