Checkout who is moving onwards and upwards in FoodNavigator-USA's latest new hires gallery, featuring high profile new hires at indoor farming startups AppHarvest and Plenty; a new management team at ZICO coconut water; and changes at Impossible Foods, Chobani, Blue Apron, Monster Energy, Organic Valley, Flowers Foods, Change Foods, and the USDA.
We begin with Impossible Foods - which has waved goodbye to a couple of key execs this month (VP sales Dana Worth, and CFO David Lee), but attracted a high-profile name to its board of directors: former UN climate chief and key Paris Agreement architect Christiana Figueres.
In a Q&A on the firm's website, Figueres explains: "There is a huge overlap between human and planetary health. A plant based diet is good for both. We need to move beyond the climate community, and speak to people other than climate junkies about the detrimental planetary and human health effects of meat.
"Impossible Foods is a company that understands both of these arguments and is pushing the envelope on how we can change eating habits without necessarily having to change taste buds. If we have to change taste buds, we’re facing an uphill battle. Instead, Impossible Foods is accepting our taste buds as they are and providing nutritious and more responsible alternatives."
ZICO coconut water founder Mark Rampolla - who has just bought the brand back from Coca-Cola via VC fund Powerplant Ventures - has hired beverage industry veterans Thomas Hicks (left) as CEO and Alan George (right) as CFO at the new business, ZICO Rising.
Hicks and George have worked together at Monster Energy and most recently at CBD specialist Ojai Energetics.
US/Australian firm Change Foods – one of a new breed of startups making real dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows – has hired former Danone executive Irina Gerry as its CMO, and former Eat Just manufacturing VP Luis Espinoza (who has also held key manufacturing positions at Amy’s Kitchen, Marquez Brothers, and Kraft) as its COO. Co-founder Junior Te’o - associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology - will move into the CTO role.
Chobani, meanwhile, has hired a new CFO, Jody Macedonio, who most recently served as the CFO of 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, and before that, at Dean Foods. Interim CFO Michelle Brooks will continue as treasurer and take on the newly created role of chief business development officer.
Meal kit co Blue Apron has hired Randy J. Greben as its new CFO and treasurer, following the resignation of Timothy S. Bensley. Prior to joining Blue Apron, Greben was SVP and CFO at ANN Inc., a subsidiary of Ascena Retail Group.
Blue Apron said it expects its Q4, 2020 results - out next month - to be better than expected.
Hydroponic vertical farming company Plenty has hired Impossible Foods' VP of sales, Dana Worth, as its SVP of sales to lead the company's next phase of commercial growth. Worth is the second high-profile executive from Impossible Foods to move to an indoor farming company this year, with AppHarvest recently hiring Impossible Foods CFO David Lee as its new president.
Ag tech and indoor farming company AppHarvest has appointed Impossible Foods CFO David Lee as president to lead its strategy, sales, marketing and finance, and operations management functions. Lee - who has been a member of the board at AppHarvest since August 2020 - will leave Impossible Foods, where he has served as CFO since 2015, on January 22. Impossible Foods’ VP and chief accounting officer David Borecky will become interim CFO.
President Elect Biden's nominee for agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack is a familiar face at the USDA, having served as Secretary of Agriculture during the Obama administration. After leaving the post, he joined the U.S. Dairy Export Council in February 2017.
Farmer-owned dairy co-op Organic Valley has promoted three senior staff members to VP roles: Kate Campbell has become VP Business Insights and Data Science; Jaclyn Cardin (top right) is now VP Integrated Brand Marketing; and Jennifer Lilla (bottom right) is VP Accounting and Financial Reporting.
Monster Beverage Corp has moved Hilton Schlosberg to the role of co-CEO, which he will share with Rodney Sacks, who has stood at the helm since 1990. Schlosberg has resigned his positions as president, CFO, COO and secretary, but will continue as vice chairman of the board. Thomas J. Kelly will succeed him as CFO.
Flowers Foods - producer of Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Tastykake, and other bakery brands - has promoted Heeth Varnedoe, SVP of DSD regions/sales, to the newly-created role of chief transformation officer.