Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO), producer of Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, and other bakery foods, has announced that Heeth Varnedoe, senior vice president of DSD Regions/Sales, has been promoted to chief transformation officer (CTO), a newly created role at the company, effective January 4, 2021.

As CTO, Varnedoe will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of key, cross-functional initiatives that advance Flowers' long-term strategic plans. One area of immediate focus for Varnedoe is Flowers' digital and enterprise resource planning initiative. This is a newly launched, multi-year effort to transform the company's organizational capabilities, implement new technologies, and make data-driven decisions. Varnedoe will report to Ryals McMullian, president and chief executive officer.

"The creation of a transformation office puts fresh emphasis on transparency, collaboration, and new ways of working at Flowers and allows us to ensure that initiatives are effectively meeting their planned operating and financial goals," McMullian said. "Heeth was a clear choice for this important position. Not only has he demonstrated strong leadership managing our portfolio optimization work, but he's also been a champion of the evolutionary steps our company has been taking over the past few years and has a deep understanding and experience of Flowers' sales and operations."

Varnedoe joined Flowers Foods in 1990, holding a number of management positions, including president of the company's bakery in Jacksonville, Florida. He left Flowers in 2000 to pursue other business interests and rejoined in 2012 as vice president of national accounts. In 2016, he was promoted to president of the company's Phoenix, Arizona bakery and was named to his current role in 2017.