For Gentine family, Sargento Foods crosses three generations
For Louie Gentine, the path to becoming chief executive officer of Sargento Foods Inc. likely started when he was born.
Gentine is the third generation in his family to operate Plymouth-based Sargento, which his grandfather, Leonard, launched in 1953.
Louie Gentine in 2013 was named chief executive officer of Sargento, known for producing natural shredded, sliced and snack cheeses. He succeeded his father, Lou, who had served as CEO since 1981 and is still board chair.
With those smooth transitions, Sargento is receiving the 2019 Deloitte Wisconsin 75’s Distinguished Performer Succession Award.
The succession award recognizes a company that has successfully moved to next generation leadership.
Louie Gentine, 46, served as Sargento’s president and chief customer officer for four years before being named CEO.
But his time at Sargento started when he was in high school, when he washed trucks, said Portia Young, director of corporate communications.
“He worked in the production lines. He worked in accounts receivable. Retails sales in college,” Young said. “So, he followed the family’s succession rules.
“They want him to know the entire company,” Young said.
Gentine also worked outside Sargento — another family succession rule, she said.
“They don’t want any shades of nepotism whatsoever,” Young said.
After graduating from University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in finance, Gentine was a commercial lender in the Chicago area for three years, Young said.
During that time, Gentine also earned a master’s of business administration at Loyola University Chicago.
After returning to Sargento, Gentine held management roles in production, procurement and marketing.
He was named president of the company’s consumer products division in 2006 before being named Sargento president and chief customer officer in 2009.
Sargento employs more than 1,800 people at four Wisconsin facilities: Plymouth, Kiel, Hilbert and Elkhart Lake.
Along with selling its cheese products at supermarkets and other stores, Sargento sells cheeses, appetizers and sauces to restaurants and other food manufacturers.