KeHE's Leonard to exit EVP role

Natural products wholesaler KeHE Distributors said EVP Greg Leonard will leave that post effective April 30.

The Romeoville, Ill.-based company said Leonard, a 40-year veteran of the natural products industry, will stay on as an advisor and an “ambassador” for KeHE and the industry.

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“Greg has made this company and this industry his life's work,” said Brandon Barnholt, KeHE president and CEO. “He is a true visionary whose energy and knowledge have been a driving force in making KeHE what it is today and have allowed him to significantly impact our industry as a whole. Greg will be a great ambassador for our company and advisor to me and other senior leaders for years to come.”

Leonard began his career at Tree of Life in 1974 and until 1986 was responsible for the company's purchasing activity, including bulk foods. In the mid-1980s, he transitioned from purchasing into a number of marketing roles, including VP of merchandising, supervising the development and marketing of Tree of Life's company-owned natural and organic brands. Currently, as EVP for independent sales, Leonard is responsible for KeHE's national sales and account support activities in the independent conventional and independent natural channels.

"I certainly do not intend to leave KeHE entirely, as I am much too invested in the goal of seeing this company become a truly iconic distributor of natural, specialty and fresh products to retailers nationally,” Leonard said in a statement. “Neither do I plan to leave the natural and specialty products industry. I have spent 40 years in this business and love it, and I'm just not the retiring type.”