Laird Superfood raids Tropicana Brands Group to bring in Mark Johnson as its new Chief Financial Officer
Laird Superfood has announced the appointment of Mark Johnson as Chief Financial Officer. Johnson brings more than 25 years of finance leadership across public consumer packaged goods and private equity backed companies.
He joins from Tropicana Brands Group, where he served as Vice President of Finance - North America. Previously, he was Vice President - Commercial & Supply Chain Finance at Champion Petfoods, and held multiple finance leadership roles at Danone/WhiteWave Foods and The Pepsi Bottling Group.
“Mark brings the kind of operating finance experience this next chapter calls for - scaling brands in food and beverage inside businesses held to a high bar on discipline and returns,” says Jason Vieth, Chief Executive Officer at Laird Superfood. “As we integrate our recent acquisitions and build toward sustainable, profitable growth, his experience will be a real asset to our team.”
“Laird Superfood has built genuine brand equity in better for you food and beverage, and the platform the team has assembled has meaningful room to grow,” says Johnson. “I’m excited to join at this point in the company’s development and to help translate that momentum into durable financial performance.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Food and beverage brands will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
