Jerry Franks is a seasoned international R&D leader with over 15 years of executive experience and is responsible for the development and implementation of new profitable CPG products.  He is an accomplished strategist who in conjunction with Marketing and Sales leaders can skillfully develop a profitable business strategy that delivers competitive advantage based on an accurate translation of consumer insights. He is extremely responsive to broad executive direction to deliver financially justified programs and has a strong record of building organizations and teams to carry out those initiatives. Jerry very effectively manages the development and implementation processes and has gained a strong reputation as a leader effective at developing relationships on all executive and management levels within a company.

Jerry most recently worked as R&D Director for Mars Petcare, a leading manufacturer of pet food products including Pedigree, Sheba, Temptations and Cesar. The parent company, Mars Inc., operates in six business segments: Chocolate, Petcare, Wrigley Gum & Confections, Food, Drinks, and Symbioscience with such brands as M&M’S, Snickers, Dove, Mars, Extra, Orbit, Royal Canin, Juicy Fruit, Spearmint and Milky Way. He held a number of Senior R&D positions over the last 15 years and was responsible for the successful introduction of many new products that have become main stays of the current Mars Pet Food portfolio. More recently he led the R&D group through a period of exceptional market growth in the area of both dog and cat snacks by providing a range of innovative, benefit driven new products. His team was awarded Product of the Year in 2010 for the launch of Cesar Savory Bites and again in 2011 for launch of Crave cat treats. The area of Pet Snacks was a key battleground area for the company and one that generated significant profitable growth. Throughout the last 5 years Jerry has led teams to identify and deliver significant year on year cost savings through a combination of recipe reformulation and ingredient supply flexibility.

Prior to locating to the US in 1995 Jerry worked for Mars Petcare in Europe. He joined Mars in R&D prior to moving to Factory Production Management. He then was promoted to the role of Senior Industrial Engineering Manager (Europe) responsible for the capital investment for all Mars European Wet Pet Food operations. He helped drive a paradigm shift in factory efficiencies coupled with lower manufacturing costs.

Jerry holds Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Manchester University in the UK as well as Diploma In Business Studies from the Open University in the UK.