ELMWOOD PARK, NJ. — CPG veteran Andy Reichgut has been named chief executive officer at Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods, a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners. He succeeds founder Larry Praeger, who has moved into a special advisory role and will remain an active board member of the company.

Founded in 1994 by two heart surgeons, Dr. Praeger’s offers an assortment of plant-based frozen foods, including veggie burgers, bowls, cakes, puffs, hash browns, sustainable seafood items and more.

Mr. Reichgut has more than 25 years of experience in the packaged foods industry. He most recently was general manager for Violife, a vegan cheese company owned by Upfield. Before that he was executive vice president at New Classic Cooking, where he led the Veggies Made Great business. He also held brand management and innovation roles at Pinnacle Foods, Mars and Reckitt Benckiser.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.