THOMASVILLE, GA. — Flowers Foods Inc. is eliminating its more than two-year-old position of chief growth officer, resulting in the upcoming departure of Terry Thomas, who had left the board of directors to assume the role.

Flowers said March 30 that the functions of chief growth officer have been established and now will be integrated into the baked foods company’s current business structure. In turn, Flowers and Thomas have agreed that he will step down from that post, and it will be dissolved. Plans call for Thomas to continue in the role until his duties are shifted to other senior leaders.

In August 2023, Flowers announced that Thomas would resign from its board to join the company in the new role of chief growth officer, effective Sept. 1, 2023. Thomasville-based Flowers said it created the position to lead and manage growth initiatives, product development and innovation, marketing and customer partnerships. A longtime Unilever executive, Thomas — who also previously held leadership posts at PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Clorox and Procter & Gamble — had joined Flowers’ board in August 2020. He also has served as a McCormick & Co. board director since January 2024.

“Terry has brought tremendous energy, leadership and experience to our organization,” said Ryals McMullian, chairman and chief executive officer of Flowers. “Under his leadership, the role of chief growth officer has fulfilled its purpose, advancing growth for our leading brand portfolio through an expanded innovation pipeline, strengthened customer relationships, and new category and revenue management insights and capabilities. We appreciate Terry’s contributions and wish him continued success.”

With the change, chief brand officer Mark Courtney will now report directly to McMullian and take on an expanded role, adding responsibility for retail customer sales, innovation and revenue management. A 43-year company veteran, Courtney has been brand chief since July 2020, overseeing Flowers’ bread and baked snacks portfolio, including the Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Canyon Bakehouse, Wonder, Tastykake and Mrs. Freshley’s brands.

“Mark is a deeply experienced, long‑tenured and highly respected member of our leadership team,” McMullian said. “I have full confidence in his ability to lead our brand and growth efforts as we continue to strengthen Flowers’ position in the marketplace.”

Flowers noted this structure dovetails with an operations reorganization announced in February that created the role of chief operations officer for direct-store delivery (DSD) and consolidated the cake business into a newly formed division. Under the changes, Flowers named David Roach, chief strategic projects officer, as chief DSD operations officer and Dan Scott, senior vice president of DSD sales, to the newly created post of senior vice president of cake.

“Together, these moves position Flowers for future growth by pairing a brand-led marketing and sales organization with an operational team optimized for execution in market,” Flowers said.