No. 4: Mark Clouse

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When Clouse took over the top job at Campbell Soup Co. in January he had some work to do. The market for soup was dwindling and the company he now led was undergoing some massive changes: since the results of its strategic review were announced the previous August, Campbell was selling off its fresh and international units to better focus on its core snacks, meals, and beverages businesses.

Shares in the soup company had steadily declined with few exceptions from early 2017, and at the very beginning of Clouse’s reign, hit a low of $32.04. By December 2019, though, it was $47.63, having gained 47 percent over the year and making it one of the best-performing stocks in the food sector, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Campbell’s soup products gained market share for the first time in years, Clouse said in a recent earnings call. If anyone can turn around the 150-year-old company, it’s Consumer Packaged Goods vet Clouse: He ran Pinnacle Foods in Parsippany for years, and at the end of his tenure, helped sell it to ConAgra for $8.1 billion.

More from the 2019 NJBIZ Manufacturing Power 50:

• No. 1: John Kennedy
• No. 2: Suuchi Ramesh
• No. 3: Bob Unanue and Peter Unanue
• No. 5: Alex Gorsky
• No. 6: Tim Sullivan
• No. 7: Robert Asaro-Angelo
• No. 8: Stephen Sweeney
• No. 9: Donna Schaffner
• No. 10: Michele Siekerka
• Manufacturing Power 50 A-M
• Manufacturing Power 50 N-Z
• The 2019 NJBIZ Manufacturing Power 50 slideshow