Baldwin Richardson Foods names Erin Tolefree president

Tolefree becomes one of the few Black women in a leadership position in the food industry

Baldwin Richardson Foods, one of the largest Black family-owned and operated businesses in the food industry, has promoted Erin Tolefree from Chief Operating Officer to President.

Tolefree joins the 3% of C-suite level leaders in the food industry who are Black women. She first joined the company in 2001 as a national accounts manager, and advanced through the company before being named COO in 2019 and now president.

“Erin is an innovative leader with proven business acumen, dedication and the entrepreneurial spirit to successfully lead the company into the future,” says CEO Eric G. Johnson. “It is with great pride that today I celebrate Erin, who represents the third-generation of entrepreneurial leadership in our family. Her promotion to the role of President is confirmation to the continuity at Baldwin Richardson Foods and commitment to continue our journey as a privately-owned family business. I’m confident her leadership will bolster our business while continuing to raise the bar of excellence through our people-first commitment, accountability to our customers and the communities we serve.”

Baldwin Richardon manufactures custom food and beverage ingredients for a number of leading consumer packaged goods, quick service restaurant and food service brands, including McDonald’s. The company, which has an annual revenue of about $300 million, also manufactures Mrs. Richardson’s Ice Cream Toppings and Nance’s Mustards and condiments.

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Casey Laughman is the former Editor in Chief of Food Engineering magazine. He has almost two decades’ experience as a writer and editor for mainstream and trade publications. He spent several years as a writer and editor for two news services before becoming the editor of a legal publication and managing editor of a trade magazine that covered the commercial facilities market.