French fry giant with thousands of Eastern WA workers taps ex-Budweiser exec
A onetime CEO of Budweiser Brewing Co. will co-lead Lamb Weston Holdings Inc., the french fry giant with thousands of employees in the Tri-Cities.
Jan Eli B. Craps, 48, was appointed executive chair effective Feb. 6.
In the newly created role, he will work alongside Mike Smith, president, CEO and board member, to drive growth for the company, which has struggled with revenue and falling share prices in recent years.
Craps spent more than 20 years with Anheuser-Busch InBev, holding a variety of executive roles, including president of its Budweiser Brewing subsidiary before he left in April 2025.
“Jan has shaped emerging and complex markets globally, managed strategic integrations and transformations, and has led and grown multibillion consumer businesses across Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia,” Lamb Weston said in a statement announcing a series of changes in the C-suite.
Lamb Weston is based in Eagle, Idaho, but is a significant player in Washington’s $1 billion potato industry.
It employs about 3,000 people in the Mid-Columbia, where it operates corporate offices, research facilities and more than a dozen processing factories that turn potatoes into french fries for customers such as McDonald’s.
It has struggled with performance issues in recent years, notably in 2024 when it closed one of its oldest processing plants, in Connell to save money. The move that affected nearly 400 employees.
Last summer, Lamb Weston confirmed it would install six new independent directors, including a new chairman, to its board after signing an agreement with two of its largest shareholders. The move signaled changes ahead.
Lamb Weston announced several other c-suite moves this week.
As Craps steps into the new executive chair role, the current chair, Brad Alford, will transition to lead independent director.
The board also appointed James D. Gray as chief financial officer, effective April 2.
Gray will succeed Bernadette Madarieta, who held the role for five years and has been part of the Lam Weston team since it spun off from Conagra as an independent, publicly traded company 10 years ago.
Gray joins Lamb Weston from Ingredion, where he was CFO.
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In its most recent quarterly earnings statement, Lamb Weston reported net income of $62.1 million on net sales of $1.6 billion or 44 cents per share.
Lamb Weston reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 target of $6.35 billion to $6.55 billion.
It is No. 551 on the Fortune 1000 list of the top U.S. public and private companies based on revenue.
The company’s stock was trading at $47.27 Wednesday morning. The 52-week high is $67.07.
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 12:46 PM.