Dallas, TX—Recruitment firm Sanford Rose Associates has released the results of its 2011 Executive Compensation Survey for the Consumer Health and Wellness sector.

The firm surveyed more than 200 executives in the dietary supplement, ingredient, nutraceutical, and natural /organic food, beverage and personal care industries. Some 66% of respondents were from privately owned companies and most people were from the United States (95%). About 41% of respondents has more than 26 years of experience, and most respondents were either senior vice presidents (33%) or CEOs (27%). When asked about their compensation, most survey-takers (23%) fell in the base salary range of $126,000–150,000. Nearly 20% made more than double this amount ($301,000–350,000). About 20% of the respondents came from companies with annual revenues of $26–50 million.

Stated Sanford Rose Associates, “We were most surprised that only fifty-one percent (51%) of the respondents reported equity as a component of compensation. We would have expected that percentage to be higher. Thirty-nine percent 39% of the respondents indicated that they felt their compensation was ‘low’ as compared to other executives in the industry. (Perhaps they are part of the forty-nine percent (49%) that are not receiving an equity interest.)”

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, April 2012 (online 2/17/12)