1,000: When Culture Informs Strategy | Tucker Marshall, CFO, The J. M. Smucker Company

Transitioning into private equity further expanded his horizons, immersing him in the operational dynamics of various industries from steel to automotive. Each role was a building block, enriching his understanding and skill set and preparing him for the strategic financial leadership that would define his later career.

In 2012, coming full circle, Marshall finally joined Smucker’s, a company that had long stood as a beacon in his community. Rising through the ranks, he became CFO in 2020, at a time when strategic financial leadership had become more crucial than ever. Under his stewardship, Smucker’s finance function evolved beyond traditional roles, emphasizing strategic partnerships across the company, fostering growth, and enhancing shareholder value—principles far from the mind of a young man in the same place who once dreamed of simple summer days spent mowing luscious lawns.

Our portfolio today is uniquely rounded out by virtue of us being in the frozen, handheld, and spreads categories. We have our iconic Uncrustables frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is only natural because we also produce JIF peanut butter and Smucker’s jellies, jams, and preserves. We also are a leader in the at-home coffee space, with brands like Folgers, Dunkin’, and Café Bustelo. In the pet category, we have leadership positions in dog snacks with Milk-Bone and cat food with Meow Mix. We recently completed the acquisition of Hostess Brands, which provides us entry into the sweet baked snack segment. They have iconic brands of doughnuts—as well as Twinkies—which is certainly exciting. We do all of this in support of individual consumers and families because we want to bring into their lives opportunities for memorable meals and moments. This is what makes us such a special organization.

Looking forward, we’re really focused on delivering our core business. We want to realize cost and productivity savings, bolster our synergies, and use our transformation office to address stranded overhead. We also want to complete the seamless integration of our most recent acquisition, Hostess.

As we think beyond this, we do want to acknowledge a couple of things. One is that we continue to live in an inflationary environment, so we need to continue to understand and assess how consumers are being impacted by this. We want to continue to be there for consumers by offering them a full value spectrum for what they may want to consume and where they buy on any given day. I would also say that over the next 12 months, we’ll be focused not only on advancing our people development and nurturing our culture but also on building out our technology platforms and applications.

Finally, as CFO, it’s going to be very important that I continue to have active and transparent communication with all of our constituents. I need to ensure that we continue to set credible financial targets in this environment. I also want to acknowledge that we need to prioritize our capital toward the highest and best returns. As we deliver cost and productivity savings through our transformation office, we want to continue to deploy our capital or cash on a balanced basis to maximize how we’re reinvesting in the company. We’re also returning capital to shareholders and to debt investors as well. These are some of the broader macroeconomic considerations on which we’ll be focusing during the next 12 months, and we’ll also be continuing to refine our communication style and investment style as we move forward. jb

“It’s important to promote a culture wherein every member of the finance organization is focused on being a steward of financial compliance and a strategic business partner. There is a great opportunity for finance to support business growth, and it begins with how we think about our role.” –Tucker Marshall, CFO, The J. M. Smucker Company