Novus Foods hands Admir Basic the CEO reins

CINCINNATI — Admir Basic has been named chief executive officer of chilled snacking company Novus Foods, formerly Lakeview Farms, effective immediately.

Basic takes over the role from Tom Davis, who held the title for nearly 11 years.

The hiring of Basic comes after the Cincinnati-based company said it planned and carefully managed a succession process that was led by the board and its shareholder, CapVest Partners.

Basic joins the company from Great Kitchens Food Co., where he was president and CEO. He previously spent approximately nine years at Aryzta. His most recent position there was senior vice president of retail. Prior to Aryzta, he was sales planning and strategy manager at Solo Cup Co.

Novus Foods said under Davis’s leadership, he helped grow the company from a $200 million business into a $1 billion chilled snacking platform through five acquisitions.

Davis also was involved when Novus Foods formed in a merger between Lakeview Farms, a portfolio company of CapVest Partners, and noosa, an Australian-style yogurt products manufacturer.

Prior to the merger, Lakeview Farms acquired noosa from The Campbell Soup Co. in 2024.

“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Tom for 11 years of outstanding leadership,” said Timothy Colson, chairman of Novus Foods and a partner at CapVest Partners. “He has built Novus into a market leader and leaves the business in a position of real strength. In Admir, the board has found a proven operator with a strong track record of scaling food businesses and deepening customer partnerships, and we are confident he is the right leader to take Novus into its next chapter.”