[6][15] He then enrolled in the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, and had an internship in Mexico City one summer which also took him to Venezuela, Argentina, and Chile.
[13] In June 2004, after the company's $840 million acquisition of International Multifoods, which included Pillsbury dry baking mixes and frosting,[22][7] he was appointed vice president and managing director, Canada.
[41][26] As CEO, Smucker has sought to position the company for growth and continued profitability by achieving the right product mix for current-day consumers.
[5][42][43][44] Under his leadership, in 2018 the company acquired Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, the parent company of Rachael Ray's Nutrish line of dog and cat food,[42][45][46] and sold off its dry baking-mixes business as consumers moved away from cake-mix brands towards buying fresh baked goods and healthier foods.
[47][48][42][45] These two major changes to the company's product lines allowed it to focus on the three categories of pet food, coffee, and snacking – large sectors with projections for continued growth.
[51][5][8][43][44] In 2018 the company launched a premium coffee line called 1850, which has a smooth but bolder taste and a heritage backstory about the California Gold Rush, to appeal to millennials.
[42][44] His modernization of the company also included making it more agile and able to respond more quickly to market conditions and changing consumer trends.
[55][57] In November 2019, the company announced a number of executive leadership changes designed to streamline decision-making and enable greater agility.
[58] In 2019, Smucker updated the company's purpose statement to meet changing consumer and societal dynamics, by gathering a diverse cross-section of 40 of its 7,000 employees from all ranks and departments, together with a consulting firm, for brainstorming.
[61][62] Under Smucker's leadership the company achieved the first two goals a year early, by July 2019; the two benchmarks were diverting 95% of waste which would have gone to landfills; and reducing water use by 15%.
[63][64][62] In 2018 the company invested in a windfarm in central U.S. to help achieve its third six-year goal of offsetting its greenhouse-gas emissions by 10% and its electricity usage by 50%.