Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. has promoted Monisha Dabek to chief operating officer.
Dabek will lead management of the agricultural cooperative’s USA Commercial business; global branded and ingredients commercial business; supply chain; and research, development and sustainability teams.
“Ocean Spray is ushering in a new era for our historic cooperative, delivering modernized internal processes, technological advancements and P&L management that will drive improved efficiency across our organization,” Ocean Spray President and CEO Tom Hayes said in a news release. “Monisha is an accomplished, driven and creative leader in the CPG industry who has achieved clear results for our members. Taking the helm in this newly consolidated organization, she will lead the strategy and execution of our business operations end-to-end.”
Since March 2021, Dabek has served as Ocean Spray’s chief commercial officer and general manager for the U.S. In that role, she led sales, marketing, innovation, insights, revenue management and demand planning teams as the owner of the P&L for the cooperative’s U.S. region.
During her tenure, Dabek led a comprehensive brand and portfolio renewal, launched the “Just Add Cran” campaign, rebuilt the innovation pipeline, launched the Zero Sugar platform and entered into a ready-to-drink collaboration with Absolut Vodka, the release said. Additionally, she led the sales and insights organizations through a challenging COVID-19 pandemic period that created supply and inflationary headwinds for the cooperative. She has driven both top- and bottom-line growth, with more U.S. consumers using Ocean Spray products than ever before, the cooperative said.
“With the strength of our global brand and commercial strategies, coupled with our expansive supply chain and superior research and development efforts, we will collectively launch this historic cooperative into its next 100 years,” Dabek said. “Working on behalf of family farms is what sets Ocean Spray apart. It is incredibly rewarding to lead at an organization driven by such a strong purpose, and I am thrilled to bring our end-to-end value chain together in our drive to deliver strong returns for our farmer-owners in both the short- and long-term.”
Prior to Ocean Spray, Dabek was with Danone, with roles centered in the Sales and Brand marketing organizations, spanning leadership positions in Plant Based Food & Beverage (Silk, SoDelicious) and launching the successful multi-serve cold brew coffee brand Stok. She has also held sales, strategy, and other leadership positions with known industry leaders, including WhiteWave Foods, PepsiCo and Accenture.
“Monisha has done an excellent job leading the USA Commercial team at Ocean Spray, and we are confident in her experience, capability and passion to lead our business operations globally,” said Peter Dhillon, Ocean Spray board chairman.
