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Staffing benchmark · Strategy & chief of staff

Business-unit leadership staff per 1,000 employees

Across 8 named companies in 2 industries, the median is 3.7 staff per 1,000 employees, from 2.1 at Sysco to 7.0 at Ingredion.

8
named companies with a value
3.7
median, staff per 1,000 employees
2
Food & CPG, Foodservice distribution

Quartiles. Lean and heavy quartiles for this metric are in the $150 cut.

Definition

The question. How many business-unit leadership staff per 1,000 employees?
How it is computed. Business-unit leadership headcount ÷ total employees × 1,000.

Counts people whose title places them in the function: an exact count for the org and a floor for the process, since someone in another function may perform part of it.

Also called: acquisitions, corporate strategy, digital transformation, executive, mergers & acquisitions, project & program management.

Food & CPG companies

Across 4 food & CPG companies, the median is 5.0 staff per 1,000 employees, from 4.6 at McCormick & Company to 7.0 at Ingredion. Quartiles are published at 8 or more companies; this cut has 4.

Measured: named-profile census of every person in the function, grossed up for coverage, as of June 2026. The food & CPG benchmark.

CompanyTickerBusiness-unit leadership headcountEmployeesRevenue, $BStaff per 1,000 employeesProvenance
IngredionINGRpaid11,2007.22paidmeasured
International Flavors & FragrancesIFFpaid21,50010.89paidmeasured
McCormick & CompanyMKCpaid14,1006.84paidmeasured
The Kraft Heinz CompanyKHCpaid35,00024.94paidmeasured

Company values and headcounts are in the $150 cut.

Foodservice distribution distributors

Across 4 foodservice distribution distributors, the median is 2.4 staff per 1,000 employees, from 2.1 at Sysco to 2.7 at Chefs' Warehouse. Quartiles are published at 8 or more companies; this cut has 4.

Measured: named-profile census of every person in the function, grossed up for coverage, as of May 2026. The foodservice distribution benchmark.

CompanyTickerBusiness-unit leadership headcountEmployeesRevenue, $BStaff per 1,000 employeesProvenance
Chefs' WarehouseCHEFpaid5,1564.15paidmeasured
Performance Food GroupPFGCpaid43,00063.30paidmeasured
SyscoSYYpaid76,00081.40paidmeasured
US FoodsUSFDpaid30,00039.42paidmeasured

Company values and headcounts are in the $150 cut.

Get this cut as data

$150 per industry cut adds every named company's value and inputs, lean and heavy quartiles, CSV and a benchmark-format row.

Subscription benchmarks publish this kind of figure as anonymous quartiles; the cut here names every company and dates every number.

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