4505 Meats, a leader in premium pork rinds and high protein/low carb snacks, is thrilled to announce the appointments of Erik Havlick as Chief Executive Officer and Greg O'Neal as Chief Marketing Officer. These two proven food entrepreneurs bring deep experience in building and scaling premium brands.

Prior to 4505, Erik and Greg served on the executive team at Thanasi Foods. Erik, along with his brother, originally co-founded Duke's Freshly Craft Smoked Meats and BIGS Sunflower Seeds - leading brands in the premium meat and seed snack categories respectively. Greg joined the team as a partner and Head of Marketing. Duke's and BIGS were both acquired by Conagra in 2017.  

Since then, Erik and Greg have collaborated to help food companies grow their brands and scale their businesses, including serving as Board Advisors for 4505 Meats prior to accepting the CEO and CMO roles.

4505 Meats was originally founded in 2009 by chef, butcher and author, Ryan Farr, out of his apartment kitchen in San Francisco. Today the brand is the #1-selling, highest market share, and fastest growing premium pork rind in the United States, according to the latest syndicated data. Farr also owns the popular 4505 Burgers and BBQ restaurant in San Francisco.

“I have always made it a priority to surround myself with leaders that are inspired by our craft and highly motivated to evolve personally and professionally. After twelve years of running a successful snack business, I feel it's time to pass the torch,” said Farr. “The explosive growth of our 4505 Meats snack food business has been really amazing and humbling. Now is definitely the right time to bring leaders like Erik and Greg into the 4505 Meats family. The knowledge, expertise and wisdom they bring in building and growing challenger snack brands in authentic, meaningful ways is exactly the kind of skill set we need to double down on our growth. Plus, they have unique, hard-to-find expertise in the Convenience Channel that is well-timed for our brand as we look to become truly omnichannel. We can't wait for this exciting next chapter with Erik and Greg at the wheel.” 

Farr will focus on growing his successful restaurant business and working on his third book, while staying heavily involved in the 4505 Meats snack business. With Havlick as the new CEO, Farr will assume the role of Chairman of the Board and “Chef in Chief” and will continue to develop delicious BBQ-inspired foods across the 4505 family of brands.

Source: 4505 Brands