The owners of Honey Baked Ham announced they are consolidating three regionalized operating divisions, previously based in Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio. The combined organization, the Honey Baked Ham Company LLC, is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, and serves customers online and at more than 400 year-round locations in 40 states across the U.S. Honey Baked Ham Inc. continues to operate independently in the state of California under a license agreement.
As a part of consolidation, Honey Baked Ham is centralizing management, sourcing, and operations for the company nationwide. By pooling resources and establishing a single support structure, Honey Baked Ham plans to increase its financial capacity, streamline operations, lower costs, and enhance both the speed and flexibility of its decision-making. Additionally, both the company and its franchisees will benefit from increased efficiencies and effectiveness offered by centralized marketing and sales. Most importantly, customers will benefit through national brand consistency, improved web and e-commerce platforms, grow through omni-channel strategies, and overall convenience and access to the brand.
David A. Keil, a highly regarded industry veteran, now serves as both CEO and a company board member. Keil joins Honey Baked Ham from Ecolab where he was a member of the global leadership team and led the integration team for their $8.3 billion Nalco merger. Keil also spent four years as an independent member of the Honey Baked Ham board of advisors.
"The consolidation is a logical next step in the company's evolution," Keil says. "Uniting the internal aspects of our organization allows us to combine the strengths from each division and create an even stronger company and quality experience for our customers."
Honey Baked Ham continues to be a family-owned business. Linda van Rees from the Georgia division, Lou Schmidt from theMichigan division, and Craig Kurz from the Ohio division, who are all grandchildren of Honey Baked Ham founder, Harry J. Hoenselaar, now serve with other independent directors on a fiduciary board responsible for establishing the future direction of the company.
Maggie DeCan serves as president and COO. A 13-year Honey Baked Ham veteran, she previously served as president and COO for the jointly owned Honey Baked Ham Franchise Company.
"Serving families during special occasions is core to our business and will not change," DeCan says. "By centralizing support for our stores, we'll be able to do an even better job of serving both our customers and our associates who serve our customers."
The updated structure is a return to the way Honey Baked Ham operated at its founding in 1957 and allows the company to continue pursuing its mission: Celebrating life, one meal at a time.
