It would be a billion-dollar-a-year company all by itself, so no surprise that the White Wave Foods unit wasn't left without a leader for long. While he's coming from a consumer products company, Scalzo's resumé includes a similar post with Coca-Cola Co.'s Minute Maid Co.

"In Joe Scalzo, we found a powerful combination of executive leadership capabilities, a superb track record in marketing leading consumer brands and strong global supply chain expertise," said Gregg Engles, Dean's chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

Scalzo succeeds Steve Demos, the founder of White Wave who parted ways with Dean in March, less than six months after taking the helm of the reconfigured unit that includes the former Morningstar division.