Ex-Tyson exec joins Keystone Foods
Devin Cole heads N. America for Herb Lotman's old firm, now in W.C.
Keystone Foods, the $2.7 billion (yearly sales), multinational West Chester-based fast-food sandwich-meat supplier, has hired Devin Cole as its new President for North America, overseeing bird, beef and fish meat supply businesses and reporting to Keystone President Frank Ravndal. Cole prevoiusly worked as chief commercial officer of chicken giant Tyson Foods.
Keystone's founder, the late Herb Lotman, expanded the company to develop and supply frozen hamburger patties, Chicken McNuggets and other processed protein for the mass market, before he and his private-equity partner Lindsay Greenberg LLC sold the business to Brazil-based Marfrig Alimentos S.A., for $1.26 billion in 2010.
Marfrig has since replaced Lotman's management team. Under its Brazilian owners, Keystone also shut the Conshohocken office and consolidated headquarters operations to its lab site in West Chester. Keystone now employs about 75 in the Philadelphia area and 11,500 worldwide. Keystone has also sold its distribution operations but continues to operate meat plants in Wisconsin, Ohio and southern states.