Listen to this article

Mama’s Creations is bringing on an executive with nearly 30 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods space to serve as chief operating officer.

A Sept. 9 press release announcing Skip Tappan’s appointment described him as a “leader with exceptional end-to-end supply chain mastery” from his time with companies like Procter & Gamble, Walmart and Campbell Soup Co.

Prior to joining the East Rutherford-based marketer and manufacturer of fresh deli prepared foods, Tappan spent more than three years as chief supply officer at Gordon Food Service, the largest privately owned food distributor in North America.

Tappan’s resume also includes two years as Northeast division vice president of supply chain at Walmart and three years as vice president of North American logistics for Campbell. He began his career at Procter & Gamble in 1990. Tappan worked his way up the ranks to lead the largest and most complex distribution network in the company: North American distribution of all beauty care and health care product categories.

Mama’s Creations’ previous COO, Matthew Brown, retired last fall after 15 years with the company. Following that, the company appointed two new vice presidents of operations to oversee its facilities in East Rutherford and Farmingdale, N.Y., on an interim basis.

The next phase

Commenting on Tappan’s arrival, Mama’s Creations Chairman and CEO Adam Michaels said, “We are privileged to welcome Skip to our senior leadership team, positioning us to better develop our employees and deliver on our vision of becoming the leading ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for high quality fresh, clean and easy to prepare foods.”

“Skip will help us drive further consistency in our operations across our existing businesses and prepare us, proactively, for future acquisitions and integrations. Skip brings strong strategic and executional business planning skills and a proven ability to deliver significant efficiency and effectiveness improvements in broad based operating results, from costs to quality to service, and will be focus on supply chain optimization, business planning, cash flow and cost optimization, asset utilization and organizational capability development,” Michaels said.

“With Skip’s guidance and key CapEx projects fully installed and in operation today, our operational & people transformation is now largely complete. I look forward to working closely with Skip as we now enter the next phase of our profitable, highly targeted growth strategy,” he also said.

Founded in 2010, Mama’s Creations makes and distributes all-natural beef, turkey, chicken and pork meatballs, as well as other similar Italian products. As part of a rebrand to better reflect the transition into a one-stop shop for prepared foods, the company changed its name in August 2023 from MamaMancini’s to Mama’s Creations.

Sold at over 8,000 grocery, mass, club and convenience stores nationally, including Costco, Kings, Whole Foods, ShopRite, Stop & Shop and The Fresh Market, the brand is also available through QVC’s direct platform on live appearances, auto shipments and online purchases.