Werner is an Advisor & Principal of the New England Consulting Group and a key member of our CPG, family-owned and private equity practice teams.
A CPG industry veteran with over 30 years of global expertise, Werner is a known and respected leader positively impacting cultural change and bottom-line results for Fortune 100 companies in numerous categories including Food/Beverage, Nutritionals/Supplements, Confection/Snack, Leisure/Hospitality, Pet Food and Private Equity.
His career began in brand management at Procter & Gamble and Quaker Oats Europe where he led all marketing of pet foods outside of North America and initiated a joint venture with pet and cereal products. Thereafter, he became vice president for Liggett & Myers, one of the largest tobacco companies in the U.S. with several CPG brands, including Alpo (pet foods).
A highly regarded executive, Werner went to Kraft Heinz as Global CEO of Life Savers, where he launched several new products and built a canister snack operation from zero to over $100 million in revenue. He also ran the operations for Beefeaters Holding Co., a pet food company focused on providing nutritional supplements for dogs, where he grew revenue year-over-year, adjusted its stock-keeping unit and launched its e-commerce platform. Subsequently, he was appointed CEO of Three Dog Bakery where he led its marketing strategy, trade channels and distribution network with Chewy and Amazon amongst others.
Most recently, he was CEO of Better Choice Company (BTTR), representing the successful integration of two global pet food/wellness leaders, Halo, Purely for Pets and TruPet. While there, Werner expanded its existing distribution channels and e-commerce presence while leading its new product launches.
Augmenting his notable career, Werner also held senior executive roles in Leisure/Activities/Toys, Small Appliances, Restaurants/Hospitality, Coffee, Renewable Energy, Distribution/Warehousing and Farming. He launched businesses in the US and Europe including new markets and distribution channels in Central and South America. He also restructured and built small to medium sized Private Equity and Family-Owned operations such as Lavazza and Melitta. His accomplishments have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Fox Business.
An astute marketing/sales strategist with keen financial skills, Werner is European born with multi-lingual ability and diverse cultural understanding. Fluent in English, German, Italian and Spanish, he holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Rochester and an MBA from Xavier University.
