Two days after being promoted to chief operating officer (COO) of Tyson Foods, Devin Cole shared his views about the present and future of the company.
“My first priority is to do no harm,” Cole said while speaking at the Barclays 18th Annual Global Consumer Staples Conference on September 4. “What I will always insist on in any organization is to make sure that we have great alignment, great clarity and great communication.”
Cole, now in his second stint of employment with Tyson Foods, worked in various leadership capacities from 1995 to 2014. He rejoined Tyson in 2024 to lead Tyson’s McDonald’s business. Later that year, following the departure of Tyson’s international group president, Amy Tu, Cole was chosen to succeed her. In February, Cole was also named president of the poultry business, succeeding Wes Morris, who retired.
As the COO, Cole continues to lead the international and poultry business segments, while now also leading the company’s beef, pork and prepared foods businesses.
While he said he feels knowledgeable about all of Tyson’s business units, he said it is important for him to continue to learn.
“I will be very inquisitive over the coming weeks and months,” he said. “I don’t see any major changes to our business, because thankfully, we’re in a very good spot. The thing that I'll assure our team members as well as our stakeholders, is that we will do nothing but accelerate the momentum that we that we already have, and that I am very fortunate to inherit.”
State of the poultry business
As Cole was promoted to COO, Tyson CEO Donnie King credited Cole’s leadership for “delivering the company’s third consecutive quarter of volume growth in poultry.”
Cole has optimism for the business in the coming months, saying all signs in the industry lead him to believe it will continue to be a stable environment.
Concerning feed inputs, he said there are present concerns about the grain supply, the tariff situation and its effect on imports and exports, “but I don’t see anything disruptive on the grain front in terms of overall production.
Cole is also pleased with the state of things in its live operations, saying he thinks the team has managed the live production footprint rather well. Earlier concerns about the breed used that led to reduced hatchability and livability. But Cole is confident in the breed being presently used.
Consumer demand for chicken remains high. Cole said the company has done well to match the supply of products produced with the consumer demand, and he is optimistic that can continue.
“One thing that I’m very proud of across prepared (foods) and poultry is that we’ve maintained a 98-plus percent fill rate, and so we are not only making sure we have the right quality, but its in the right place at the right time for our customers,” Cole said.
International business
Cole said he is “very proud” of Tyson Foods’ international business.
Its operations are primarily in Southeast Asia and China, but there are also sales offices in Europe and Latin America. Cole said Tyson is also involved in joint ventures with other companies in South America and the Middle East.
He is upbeat about the future of its international operations, as the company has made “tremendous” investments overseas.
“We have the assets in place. We now have the leadership team in place, and we certainly have great customer partnerships around the world,” he said.
But with that optimism also comes caution.
“I don’t want to gloss over the fact that those businesses, just by their sheer nature, certainly have headwinds, if you will. There’s all sorts of geopolitical as well as economic pressure on those businesses, but that’s true for everyone. It’s not unique to us.”
However, the people in leadership positions in the international business “understand the nuances” and are in continual communications.
“While those things exist, my confidence lies in the fact that now, more than ever, we’re in a position to both plan for those things and react to them when necessary,” he said.
