Baldwin Richardson Foods Promotes Cara J. Hughes to Chief Customer and Community Impact Officer

Cara J. Hughes, chief customer and community impact officer, Baldwin Richardson Foods. Image courtesy Baldwin Richardson Foods.

Baldwin Richardson Foods has promoted Cara J. Hughes to chief customer and community impact officer.

Since 1992, the company has built a legacy as one of the industry's largest Black family-owned, women-led businesses. One of the second generation of entrepreneurs leading the company forward, Hughes works in partnership with CEO and President Erin Tolefree to execute the company's accelerated growth strategy. In this elevated role, Hughes has direct oversight of consumer insights, customer relationships, culinary innovation, sales, marketing and community impact.

A key member of Baldwin Richardson Foods' executive team, Hughes is among the fewer than 5% of Black women in the C-suite in the U.S. and one of the 20% of women executives leading the food and beverage industry.

During her tenure as vice president of customer and community, Hughes was instrumental in nearly doubling the organization's revenue. She played a pivotal role expanding Baldwin Richardson Foods' geographic footprint and aseptic manufacturing capabilities through two strategic acquisitions, enabling the company to serve customers coast to coast. This was a key milestone on the path to become a full-portfolio liquid products supplier across the food and beverage industry.

Additionally, Hughes' leadership helped fuel product innovation, partnering with brands to introduce new products and reimagined favorites for menus and grocery shelves of the future.

"Cara has brought the same intensity and commitment to excellence to every role she's held," Tolefree says. "Her focus on exceeding customer expectations has consistently delivered strong results, and her passion for creating a lasting impact on the communities where we do business makes Cara an invaluable leader as we continue to grow and innovate in the future."

Hughes has been leading the work to expand and modernize the company's community impact investments across all communities where Baldwin Richardson Foods operates. Notably, Hughes was a driving force behind Baldwin Richardson Foods' title sponsorship of the inaugural Frederick Douglass HBCU Football Classic Weekend of Hope in Rochester, N.Y. Hosted near Baldwin Richardson Foods' corporate headquarters, the event honored Frederick Douglass' legacy while introducing local youth to the HBCU experience and fostering stronger community relationships with law enforcement.

In addition, Hughes is a champion for Baldwin Richardson Foods' partnership with After School Matters, sponsoring creative programming for Chicago-area teens that teaches life skills and offers career education. This year, the company worked with teens in ASM's Glass Mosaic program to produce a custom mosaic art piece that reflects Baldwin Richardson Foods' values and history for display in the corporate office.

"I am honored to step into this role, continuing the legacy of service, innovation and excellence," Hughes says. "At Baldwin Richardson Foods, our people, partners and communities are at the heart of everything we do. I look forward to working with Erin and the entire senior leadership team on the opportunities ahead, guided by our deeply rooted commitment to create meaningful impact in both customer success and community engagement."

Hughes, a graduate of Spelman College, serves as a board trustee and proudly mentors recipients of the Baldwin Richardson Foods Scholarship at the college. She also serves on the Board of After School Matters and is a founder and current chair of the Black Owned Supplier Association (BOSA).

As an organization, Baldwin Richardson Foods has a long history of community-impact initiatives supporting entrepreneurship and education programs. The company established The Baldwin Richardson Foods Scholars Programs at Babson College and Spelman College. Both scholarships provide annually awarded full-tuition, four-year scholarships. The company has also built a primary and middle school, L'ecole Novelle Zoranje, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and supported its operations since the earthquake of 2010.

Join the editorial staff of FE and Refrigerated & Frozen Foods as we share how business is doing, what’s affecting business, and where companies are spending money, if at all.

This R&FF webinar will focus on an overall look at the “state of the industry,” with a research and statistical focus on some of the consumer trends driving product development, as well as a look at the cold storage landscape and how F&B manufacturers and processors can best work with third-party logistics (3PLS) and cold storage providers.