Westrock Coffee Company has named a new chief financial officer.
Chris Pledger will be taking on the CFO role, effective immediately. Pledger is taking over for John Ebner, who retired from Westrock in October 2020.
Pledger has served as the group president-international, chief legal officer and head of corporate development for Westrock Coffee since the company’s acquisition of S&D Coffee & Tea in February 2020. In this role, he oversaw the company’s legal, compliance and regulatory issues, in addition to mergers, acquisitions and expansions in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“Chris Pledger has been an integral part of the Westrock Coffee team from the company’s founding in Rwanda in 2009, first as our outside legal counsel and more recently as a key member of Westrock’s executive team,” Westrock Coffee Company CEO Scott Ford said in a statement. “He is a strong leader whose broad experience uniquely qualifies him for this new role leading our finance, accounting, and corporate development efforts, while continuing to oversee the expansion of our global trading and export operations.”
He began serving as the company’s general counsel and chief development officer in October 2013 and became Westrock Coffee International president in November 2017. Before joining Westrock, he held roles at Thompson & Knight LLP, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Kutak Rock LLP and Hunt Oil Company.
Pledger holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Centenary College and a law degree from Louisiana State University.
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