Ben, Jerry Sign Perry Ice Cream Maker Picks Second Ceo In 2 Years

Now, it’s Ben, Jerry & Perry.

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. has scooped up another chief executive, Perry Odak, 51, to lead the eclectic ice cream maker. His appointment comes less than two years after the company hired an outside CEO to introduce a more professional management culture.

Odak has held a number of management jobs, including a year as president of video game maker Atari’s consumer products group. He oversaw marketing for Dial soap, advised machine-tool maker Sudbury Inc. and most recently worked for U.S. Repeating Arms Co., a sporting goods company.

He replaces Robert Holland Jr., who resigned in October after he accomplished his goals of stabilizing Ben & Jerry’s manufacturing operations and bringing more professional management.

The company had operated for years under the sometimes chaotic leadership of founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

But Holland also had the difficult task of replacing Cohen as chief executive and acknowledged when he left that had caused some stress.

Still, both he and Ben & Jerry’s executives said the primary reason for replacing him was the need for someone with the marketing and sales skills that would put the company in a better competitive position with arch rival Haagen-Dasz and smaller upstarts.

“We feel incredibly lucky to have found a person of Perry’s caliber to lead our company at this time,” said Cohen, who is chairman.

Unlike the high-profile campaign Ben & Jerry’s undertook when Cohen stepped aside in 1995, this search was low key.

Two years ago, Ben & Jerry’s staged a promotional campaign it dubbed the “Yo! I’m Your CEO” contest, in which it asked people to send in essays about why they should succeed the flamboyant Cohen.

That resulted in more than 20,000 entries around the world, but it did not produce a CEO. A professional executive search firm did that.

Last month, Ben & Jerry’s said it expects to announce a fourth-quarter loss, blamed on a big domestic promotional effort and a push to get into European markets.

The loss is expected to be 13 to 17 cents per share, the company said. Ben & Jerry’s expects to be profitable for the full year.