Eric Henning Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Chicago, Illinois, Us

Commodities & ingredients procurement for White Claw, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Cayman Jack, Mas+ by Messi. Hedging corn, aluminum, natural gas, and packaging to reduce risk of adverse commodity price movements within supply chain function for the 4th largest brewery in the U.S. Oversee procurement categories including corn syrup toll agreements, flavors, acidulants, juice, yeast, nutrients, tea, sugars, alcohols, colors, high-intensity sweeteners, innovation ingredients and railcar freight.

Springdale, Ar, Us

Hand-picked to gain additional responsibility overseeing Tyson’s newly acquired grain elevators after only 7 months of tenure: merchandising, grain sales, logistics/workforce strategy to maintain the efficiency necessary to achieve a maximum margin with optimal volumes.Adapted quickly to the new responsibilities with no prior notice.Tripled harvest time revenue YOY for one of the elevators by leveraging extensive knowledge in railroad logistics/trading. Shipped 23, 90-car trains in Sep-Oct 2019 harvest.Implemented first-ever futures strategy and fundamental grain elevator accounting reports.

Springdale, Ar, Us

Targeted hire to join the grain/feed/edible oil purchasing group. Leveraged industry/supplier experience to drive improvements and strategy for raw commodities while gaining extensive experience as an end user.Analyzed markets, truck/rail routes, and production environment to determine optimal procurement and sourcing strategies to ensure adequate material distribution across Tyson’s 37 domestic poultry feed mills (over $1B in corn spend, the largest feed cost). Executed long hedges / price risk management and tightened up the group on core grain futures / poultry position.Recognized as subject matter expert and key resource by the Commodities Purchasing Group and poultry nutritionists due to extensive industry experience.Represented Tyson Foods at various agriculture trade shows as well as railroad and producer meetings.

Springdale, Ar, Us

Managed execution of procurement processes for BNSF, UP, CN, CP, CSX, NS, KCS and short line rail corn to reduce the total cost of ownership for goods and services while ensuring uninterrupted supply to Tyson's U.S. feed mills. Monitored supplier performance and continuous quality management. Captured $6M/year in savings by spearheading the design of two new feed mills in partnership with Tyson engineers ($300M over the life of both mills). Produced $790k+ in savings in ten months (started this program just 1 month after my first day in Springdale) by mentoring two buyers to create a truck program that eventually was named TOPS. The project was presented to Tyson’s CFO and President of Poultry to outline an innovative growth strategy that eventually created 4 new hires. Trained truck buyers to start a new prospecting/cost-savings process to efficiently secure new corn farmers, generating savings from 10 cents to 50 cents per bushel at most mill locations (corn team buys 250M+ bushels per year).Saved $1.5M in just three months of shipments across only six mills by leveraging extensive physical grain trading experience and implementing a coverage/logistics strategy during a months-long flood event. Built an expansive network of contacts through prior attendance to conferences, establishing strategic relationships with agricultural professionals on a nationwide scale. Efforts have increased the reach of the Mississippi feed mills due to a mutually-beneficial partnership with a farmer in the area. Mississippi has become one of the biggest farmer growth areas in the past year.

Omaha, Nebraska, Us

Selected after a sourcing competition to revitalize plant operations and ensure fluidity on raw and processed commodities. Served as the overall commodity manager on site, facilitating the seed import and the oil export processes in a manner that maximized profitability for the Non-GMO canola crushing plant, the largest expeller-pressed canola facility in North America processing 44+ trucks of seed per day. Managed the buying process for GMO, Non-GMO, and Non-GMO Nexera seed, organizing rail and truck freight for seed, meal, and oil. Executed imports and exports directly with customs broker while managing foreign exchange/currency risk. Gained extensive, full-time boots-on-the-ground experience managing the operational and procurement processes of a food/human consumption ingredient manufacturing plant. Effectively lowered seed costs by $1.7M, upheld Non-GMO quality and implemented new accounting practices. Undertook this project with no prior notice or canola experience and optimized flow strategy to double the number of high margin specialty crushes.This project led to the purchase of the parent company’s edible bean assets, the largest purchase in Scoular’s history.

Omaha, Nebraska, Us

Managed 110 car shuttle trains 24/7/365 on BNSF and Union Pacific lines as part of a trading group, ensuring seamless shipping/exporting to ethanol plants, HFCS corn syrup processors, and feed mills across the Western U.S. and Mexico. Purchased corn from the Midwest.Responsible for research, reporting, and documentation for capital projects involving rail loading/unloading asset acquisitions and greenfield sites. This work led to the joint venture/ownership of a BNSF 110 car shuttle train unloader in New Mexico.

Omaha, Nebraska, Us

Accountable for P&L on UP, BNSF singles (1-25 cars) as part of a trade group, selling to pet food companies, livestock feed organizations, and dairies. Gained extensive experience exporting to Mexico/customs clearing process.

Omaha, Nebraska, Us

Handled negotiations with farmers and several end users including major poultry companies and export container transloaders from Iowa down through Arkansas while on-site at a grain elevator.

Omaha, Nebraska, Us

Strategically sourcing freight and grain to push into feed yards, soybean crush plants and wheat mills via rail and truck routes in Nebraska and Colorado. Direct communication with carriers.

Covington, Louisiana, Us

Insight on managing ethanol plants, grain elevators, barge loaders and the fastest grain export facility in the world that loads ocean vessels. Tasks included buying, hedging, merchandising and logistics.

Maumee, Ohio, Us

Acquired understanding of the company's commodity operations through 10 employee interactions.