Retail 2024: WILLIAM W. ‘BILL’ LOVETTE

Lovette has been CEO of Sauer Brands since January 2023, his second time in the position; he served as executive chairman and interim CEO in 2019, when Charlotte, North Carolina-based Falfurrias Capital Group purchased the Richmond-based family-owned spice company C.F. Sauer.

With more than 1,000 employees, the renamed Sauer Brands produces and distributes Duke’s Mayonnaise, Sauer-branded spices and other condiments to grocery stores. In 2020, Duke’s became the title sponsor of the Duke’s Mayo Classic football game in Charlotte, an annual match in September between two universities. The company announced in September 2023 it would extend that sponsorship until at least 2028.

A graduate of Texas A&M University and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, Lovette became president and CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride in 2011 and grew it from $6.9 billion to $10.9 billion in annual net revenue. He also held executive roles at Case Foods and Tyson Foods.

Lovette is entangled in a shareholder’s class-action federal lawsuit over an alleged price-fixing scheme for broiler chickens dating back to his Pilgrim’s Pride tenure. In December 2023, a federal judge removed the company’s current CEO from the case, but ruled that claims could proceed against Pilgrim’s Pride and Lovette.