Recruiting leaders for organizations that feed the world and keep it healthy

Leveraging an unmatched network to place executives who drive results

Providing insight and candor to deliver a leader as specialized as your work

Introduction to Kincannon & Reed

Food and agriculture: industries as unique as the people who lead them.
And no one knows them like we do.

We’re Kincannon & Reed, a global executive search firm exclusively serving organizations within the food and agriculture industries.

Our approach is different

With 40 years of experience across diverse international sectors, we know the caliber of leaders needed to shape a promising future for the food and agriculture industries.

We’ve sat in your chair.

Empty seats at your leadership table or ineffective executives hurt profits, morale, and market share. Our principals are well-networked, former industry executives who understand your priorities and the talent you seek.  We advise you as a colleague or peer, rather than an outsider.

Learn Who We Are

Knowing your next leader is our job.

We are a team of search professionals serving clients focused on feeding the world and keeping it healthy.  We leverage our deep industry knowledge, data, and connections to identify and place leaders with the right experiences, values, and cultural fit.

Learn Who We Serve

Providing search expertise and more

Our search professionals partner with you throughout the process. We ask questions, listen for understanding, and assess candidates from the informed perspective of former executives. We have a genuine interest in your organization’s next leader. 

Learn What We Do
Impressive track record of placing candidates who succeed

240+

executive placements across the globe in the last two years

93%

of candidates placed remain with the client through the first year

2x

likelihood of 3-year candidate retention compared to search industry averages

Serving clients who feed the world and keep it healthy.

We’re a firm with a focus – specializing in delivering leaders. Our clients from across the globe are all types and sizes of organizations. If food and agriculture are part of your business model, we have principals with experience and connections in your industry.
Who We Serve
Ag Technology & Inputs
Capital & Investment
Distribution, Retail & Food Service
Food & Beverage Consumer Products
Industry Associations & Non-Profit
Processors
Production
Research Development & Safety
Sustainable Solutions

Ag Technology & Inputs

The use of technology with the aim of improving efficiency and profitability. Businesses in this sector include:

  • Animal Health & Nutrition
  • Crop Protection & Nutrition
  • Data Analytics, Digitization & AI
  • Equipment, Robotics, Remote Imagination & Automation
  • Soil Health
  • Vertical Farming

Capital & Investment

Businesses that fund and invest in the industry including:

  • Asset Management
  • Global and Regional Banking
  • Private Equity
  • Venture Capital

Distribution, Retail & Food Service

The variety of companies, organizations and programs that collect food from processors and manufacturers, store it in warehouses, and then distribute it to stores and restaurants. Organizations that we have worked with are in the following segments

  • E-Commerce
  • Food Service
  • Grocery
  • Restaurants

Food & Beverage Consumer Products

The use of technology with the aim of providing better input solutions, and improving efficiency and profitability. Businesses in this segment include:

  • Bakery & Snacks
  • Beverages
  • Confections
  • Dairy
  • Meat Products
  • Nutrition
  • Packaged Foods
  • Pet Food
  • Seafood

Industry Associations & Non-Profit

Organizations serving people across the food value chain, sharing ideas, and addressing global issues. Some of those organizations include:

  • Foundations
  • Industry Associations
  • NGOs & IGOs
  • Research Centers/Institutes
  • Universities

Processors

Transforming, packaging, sorting, or grading livestock, agricultural commodities, or plants into goods that are used for intermediate or final consumption. Businesses in this segment include:

  • Crushers
  • Flavors, Fragrances & Naturals
  • Food Ingredients
  • Food Processors
  • Meat Protein
  • Millers
  • Refiners

Production

The use of cultivated plants or animals to produce products for sustaining or enhancing human life. Businesses in this segment include:

  • Aquaculture
  • Biotechnology
  • Cellular Meat
  • Crops (Row & Permanent)
  • Floriculture
  • Forestry
  • Horticulture
  • Livestock
  • Plant Based Proteins
  • Produce

Research Development & Safety

The broad range of activities and potential innovations that increase benefits, address challenges, and ultimately deliver safe and healthy options for consumers. The business we’ve worked with in this segment include:

  • Alternative Proteins
  • Biologicals
  • Diagnostics
  • Food Safety
  • Genetics
  • Supply Chain Technologies
  • Traits

Sustainable Solutions

Innovation and implementation of environmentally responsible business practices from field to table. Companies and areas of focus include:

  • Bio-Packaging
  • Biomaterials
  • Environmental Stewardship
  • Regenerative Agriculture
  • Water Technologies

Our Team

With team members around the world, we’re large enough to bring the right expertise while small enough to be nimble and responsive. The work we do with you is more than sourcing talent, it’s about relationships.

Meet the Team

Looking for your next opportunity?

If you would like to join our network of executive candidates, we would like to hear from you.

Click Here to Connect

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Dana Brooks, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pet Food Institute, and Kincannon & Reed placement, was named in February of 2021…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

You did not come to this leadership role on your own. Certainly, you got here with a lot of hard work,…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Kincannon & Reed’s managing directors, Paul Izenstark and Lisa Johnson congratulate Rachel Dreskin on her recent placement as CEO leading the Plant Based Foods Association…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

At the onset of the 2020s, and as I began my role as President of Kincannon & Reed, we made a…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

There is no doubt the memories of 2020 will stay with us for some time but as those memories fade, there…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Every year, companies spend billions of dollars in aggregate recruiting and interviewing. Why? Because human capital is arguably the single greatest…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Kincannon & Reed is pleased to partner with Freshpet on the recent appointment of Thembi Machaba as its new SVP of Human Resources. 

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Congratulations to Calyxt for its appointment of Sarah Reiter, an accomplished ag-tech commercialization executive. We’re proud to have partnered with Calyxt in recruiting our…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

At Kincannon & Reed we’ve been working remotely for more than 35 years facilitating video interviews long before it became a…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Kincannon & Reed was pleased to partner with CABI in a full and rigorous international search for their new CEO. We congratulate Daniel Elger in…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Kincannon & Reed and Managing Partner Ed Yuhas are pleased to congratulate Dr. Judy Schnurr on her placement of Director of Nutrition Innovation…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

Last week’s WorldAgriTech – ReThink Food virtual event provided several reflections. A world, still very hungry, needs protein, care, and information.…

Read the Full Announcement

Recent Placements & Food for Thought

The leaders we place prove the quality of our work. The knowledge of our experts provides the insight you need to attract the right candidates.

What We Know

Brooks named in Pet Age’s Women of Influence

Dana Brooks, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pet Food Institute, and Kincannon & Reed placement, was named in February of 2021…

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Who Believed in You?

You did not come to this leadership role on your own. Certainly, you got here with a lot of hard work,…

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Rachel Dreskin to Lead the Plant-Based Foods Association as New CEO

Kincannon & Reed’s managing directors, Paul Izenstark and Lisa Johnson congratulate Rachel Dreskin on her recent placement as CEO leading the Plant Based Foods Association…

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K&R Brand Refresh, New Website, & the Evolving Food Chain

At the onset of the 2020s, and as I began my role as President of Kincannon & Reed, we made a…

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2020 Hindsight – Things Become Clearer

There is no doubt the memories of 2020 will stay with us for some time but as those memories fade, there…

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The powerful formula for keeping your top performers

Every year, companies spend billions of dollars in aggregate recruiting and interviewing. Why? Because human capital is arguably the single greatest…

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Thembi Machaba

Kincannon & Reed is pleased to partner with Freshpet on the recent appointment of Thembi Machaba as its new SVP of Human Resources. 

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Sarah Reiter

Congratulations to Calyxt for its appointment of Sarah Reiter, an accomplished ag-tech commercialization executive. We’re proud to have partnered with Calyxt in recruiting our…

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Kincannon & Reed tips for online interviews

At Kincannon & Reed we’ve been working remotely for more than 35 years facilitating video interviews long before it became a…

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Daniel Elger

Kincannon & Reed was pleased to partner with CABI in a full and rigorous international search for their new CEO. We congratulate Daniel Elger in…

Keep Reading

Dr. Judy Schnurr

Kincannon & Reed and Managing Partner Ed Yuhas are pleased to congratulate Dr. Judy Schnurr on her placement of Director of Nutrition Innovation…

Keep Reading

Insights from World AgriTech – ReThink Food

Last week’s WorldAgriTech – ReThink Food virtual event provided several reflections. A world, still very hungry, needs protein, care, and information.…

Keep Reading

Upcoming Networking Opportunities

Connect with leaders in our industry through online and in-person events and leverage their insight for your organization.
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