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Richard (Rick) Searer is President, Kraft North America Commercial, Kraft Foods Inc., with responsibility for marketing and sales in the U.S. and Canada.
Searer most recently was Group Vice President and President of Kraft’s North American Convenient Meals Sector, where his responsibilities included the Oscar Mayer Division, the Kraft Pizza Division, the Kraft Meals Division, Boca Foods and Back To Nature. Searer was named to this position in 2004.
Searer joined General Foods in 1981 as an Assistant Product Manager in the Maxwell House Division. In 1983, he became a Product Manager for Oscar Mayer and in 1986 became Group Brand Manager of Kraft cheese. Three years later, Searer was promoted to Marketing Manager for Louis Rich and Oscar Mayer. In 1991 he became Vice President of Marketing for Oscar Mayer followed by a move to Vice President and General Manager of Consumer Products later the same year. He was named Executive Vice President, Category Sales Management in 1995 and President of the Oscar Mayer Foods Division in August 1996. In December 1998, Searer became Executive Vice President of Kraft Foods Inc., and President of the Oscar Mayer and Pizza Divisions. Searer was named Group Vice President, Kraft Foods North America, and President of the Oscar Mayer, Pizza & Food Service Group in September 2000. In this role, Searer was responsible for such brands as Oscar Mayer, Claussen, Louis Rich, Lunchables, Di Giorno, Tombstone and Jack’s, as well as Boca Foods.
Searer received a B.A. in religious studies from Penn State University, an M.S. in higher education administration from Indiana University and an MBA (with highest honors) in marketing and finance from Northwestern University’s J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. | 