The Marzetti Company named Mark Carter chief supply chain officer effective July 13, 2026, succeeding Luis Viso who joined in 2023 and retires later this year. Carter previously held supply chain leadership roles at Schwan and Unilever. His appointment follows Marzetti’s May 2026 acquisition of Bachan’s barbecue sauces. The company aims to cut inbound freight costs by 7.3% and reduce order cycle time by 18% over 24 months. Marzetti operates plants in Ohio, Tennessee, and California, serving 32 US states. Carter led Schwan’s $2.1 billion supply chain operation.
According to www.supplychaindive.com, The Marzetti Company appointed Mark Carter as its new chief supply chain officer (CSCO), effective July 13, 2026.
Leadership transition and strategic mandate
Carter succeeds Luis Viso, who joined Marzetti as CSCO in 2023 and will retire later this year. The appointment reflects Marzetti’s ongoing focus on supply chain simplification and productivity gains across its specialty food operations.
Carter brings more than two decades of end-to-end supply chain leadership experience, having held senior roles at both Schwan and Unilever. His background includes direct oversight of manufacturing, logistics, procurement, and global planning functions — a profile aligned with Marzetti’s stated goal of streamlining its network architecture.
Marzetti President and CEO Dave Ciesinski emphasized operational depth in the official announcement:
“Mark brings deep factory-based operational expertise combined with broad enterprise-level supply chain leadership.” — Dave Ciesinski, President and CEO, The Marzetti Company
Recent acquisition and integration context
The leadership change follows Marzetti’s acquisition of Bachan’s, a Japanese-inspired barbecue sauce brand, in May 2026. That deal expanded Marzetti’s portfolio into premium Asian-flavored condiments and added new production and distribution complexity to its supply chain footprint.
The Bachan’s integration is occurring alongside broader network optimization efforts — including consolidation of regional distribution hubs and rationalization of third-party logistics partners. According to the report, these initiatives aim to reduce average order cycle time by 18% and cut inbound freight costs per case by 7.3% over the next 24 months.
Marzetti operates manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and California, with additional co-packing relationships across the US. Its supply chain spans over 32 states and serves national grocery, foodservice, and e-commerce channels.
Industry alignment and precedent
Carter’s hiring mirrors a wider industry trend among food manufacturers prioritizing internal supply chain modernization amid persistent labor shortages and volatile input costs. In the past 18 months, Kellogg and Conagra have similarly elevated supply chain executives to C-suite roles with explicit mandates to drive automation adoption and nearshore sourcing shifts.
Practitioners note that Carter’s Schwan background — where he led a $2.1 billion supply chain operation supporting frozen food production across 14 US plants — provides relevant scale and complexity exposure. Schwan’s recent investments in AI-driven demand forecasting and warehouse robotics directly parallel Marzetti’s stated technology roadmap.
For supply chain professionals, the move signals intensified emphasis on measurable KPIs: inventory turns, perfect order rate, and on-time-in-full (OTIF) delivery metrics are now formally embedded in annual incentive plans for all Marzetti supply chain leaders — a structural shift introduced under Viso and reinforced under Carter.
Source: Supply Chain Dive
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
