• Denis Phelps (left) has been announced as chief customer officer and Gerard Smith (right) as chief marketing officer for Freedom Foods Group. CEO Michael Perich says the two complete the group’s “comprehensive renewal of the senior leadership team”. 
Source: FFG website
    Denis Phelps (left) has been announced as chief customer officer and Gerard Smith (right) as chief marketing officer for Freedom Foods Group. CEO Michael Perich says the two complete the group’s “comprehensive renewal of the senior leadership team”. Source: FFG website
Close×

Freedom Foods Group CEO Michael Perich says the two latest executive appointments complete the group’s “comprehensive renewal of the senior leadership team”.

Denis Phelps has been announced as chief customer officer and Gerard Smith as chief marketing officer.

Phelps was most recently country manager for Danone in Cambodia. The CCO role is a new one for FFG, with Phelps leading customer and category strategies across the group. He brings more than 25 years FMCG experience to the role, having worked for Danone, Unilever and The Clorox Company.

As CMO Smith will lead marketing, innovation and sustainability. Perich said he also brings digital strategy experience to the role, having previously worked for Lion, Goodman Fielder and PepsiCo, where he was vice president marketing Global Snacks Portfolio. 

Phelps and Smith round out a year of executive rebuilding including CFO Josée Lemoine, COO Stuart Muir, chief people and culture officer Fiona McGregor, group general counsel and company secretary Justin Cross, and general manager internal audit Tim Phoon.

The company’s FY21 results will be released on 30 August.

Packaging News

As 2025 draws to a close, it is clear the packaging sector has undergone one of its most consequential years in over a decade. Consolidation at the top, restructuring in the middle, and bold innovation at the edges have reshaped the industry’s horizons. At the same time, regulators, brand owners and recyclers have inched closer to a new circular operating model, even as policy clarity remains elusive.

Pact has reported a decline in revenue and earnings for the first five months of FY26, citing subdued market demand, as chair Raphael Geminder pursues settlement of the long-running TIC earn-out dispute.

PKN brings you the top 20 clicks on our website this year, a healthy mix of surprise and no-surprise. Pro-Pac Packaging led the list, Women in Packaging came in at #4, and Zipform's paper bottle at #15.