Gabriella's Kitchen Appoints Jamie Fay, a Leader in the Natural Foods and Consumer Packaged Goods Industries, as President & COO
CALGARY and SANTA ROSA, CA, Jan. 21, 2019 /CNW/ - Gabriella's Kitchen Inc. ("GABY" or the "Company") (CSE: GABY), an innovative and leading-edge cannabis wellness company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jamie Fay as President & COO of GABY.
Jamie is the former Chief Customer Officer and General Manager of The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) where he was responsible for US and international sales, strategic planning, and operations. Jamie is currently a member of the Whole Foods Market Supplier Council.
Jamie also has extensive industry experience driving innovative strategic initiatives as Senior Vice President, Global Sales at Nature's Path Foods and Senior Vice President, Retail Strategy & Operations at Mars Inc. He brings with him over 20 years of delivering top line growth objectives while maintaining commitments against financial returns and will contribute his skills and expertise to the development and achievement of GABY's vision to penetrate and lead the market as a trusted cannabis wellness company.
"Recruiting Jamie is a big win for GABY and further highlights the opportunity in cannabis. When someone of Jamie's calibre sees the opportunity to bring his mainstream consumer packaged goods ("CPG") experience to the cannabis world it points directly to the upside potential in the branded cannabis space which GABY operates in," said Margot Micallef, Founder and CEO of GABY. "Many agree that there are numerous similarities between the cannabis industry and the early days in the organic and natural products industry. GABY will benefit greatly from the recent executives we have brought on to our team who are bringing their expertise in CPG to the nascent cannabis industry."
Jamie joins former Hain Celestial colleagues, Maureen Putman, now special advisor to GABY, and Irwin Simon, now Aphria's (TSX: APHA) independent Chair of the Board of Directors, in applying their organic and natural food industry success to the cannabis industry. Jamie will be instrumental in driving exponential growth to GABY's THC products though application of his mainstream experience in the licensed channel and will greatly expedite GABY's introduction of CBD products into the mainstream, given his network and industry experience and customer centric approach to driving category in partnership with retailers.
The addition of Jamie to the GABY team will leverage these similarities and his industry knowledge to drive growth in the same manner he oversaw in his previous executive positions. As GABY continues to grow, Jamie's experience maintaining a customer-centric approach to managing multiple operating divisions and his leadership over significant distribution growth at Hain Celestial will be invaluable assets. His success in developing transformational initiatives resulting in brand growth and increased market-share will help drive GABY as a cannabis industry pioneer, combining highly innovative infused products with its strong wellness-industry roots to continue its mission of empowering people to live healthy lives.
"I am beyond excited to be joining the strong leadership team at GABY," stated Mr. Fay. "I am particularly impressed with the dual channel sales strategy employed by GABY which allows the Company to sell its infused products in the licensed cannabis channel and its un-infused and CBD products in conventional grocery. I am also impressed with the progress GABY has made over the last year: they have acquired a manufacturing facility and license, are in the process of completing the acquisition of a distribution company and license, developed new infused products and brought them to market and hired additional management with expertise in the cannabis space," he continued. "Margot and her team have accomplished more in the last twelve months than many cannabis companies have accomplished in three years."
GABY's alto™ and Aunt Zelda's™ cannabis-based and infused products are currently in licensed retail locations throughout California and its un-infused products are currently in over 3400 conventional grocery stores throughout the US and Canada.
ABOUT GABRIELLA'S KITCHEN INC.
GABY is a US-focused, cannabis wellness company holding a manufacturing license and will hold a distribution license issued by the California Bureau of Cannabis Control upon closing of its acquisition of Sonoma Pacific Distribution, announced October 23, 2018. With these licenses, its existing infrastructure of major retailers and an extensive broker and distribution network, GABY is positioned to service mainstream grocery with CBD infused products, as well as licensed cannabis retailers with CBD and THC-infused edible and wellness products.
Margot and her sister Gabriella co-founded GABY, a wellness company, after Gabriella received a dire cancer diagnosis which spurred the sisters to prolong Gabriella's life through a holistic approach to health. Today, GABY is a wellness company with its own manufacturing infrastructure and a diverse range of products that use cannabis to address a variety of dietary and health concerns. Although Gabriella ultimately passed away from her illness, she lived exponentially longer than doctors predicted. Her memory and passion live on through GABY's mission: to empower people to live healthy lives without compromise.
To learn more, please visit the Company's website at www.gabriellas-kitchen.com.
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Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information
The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Gabriella's Kitchen Inc. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, the anticipated closing of the Sonoma Acquisition, the anticipated closing of other accretive acquisitions in 2019, the anticipated hiring of a qualified President and COO in a timely manner, the Company's ability to raise funding to achieve its objectives in 2019 and the anticipated availability of the Company's Infused Products. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
TOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of GABY. TOP owns cannabis license in California. Cannabis is legal in the State of California however cannabis remains illegal under United States ("U.S.") federal laws. The U.S. Department of Justice issued guidance in 2013 indicating that it will focus on certain enforcement priorities, outside of which it will generally not enforce federal prohibitions on cannabis in U.S. states that have authorized this conduct so long as the U.S. state has implemented a strong and effective regulatory program. This federal guidance is subject to change, rescission or alteration by other federal government policy pronouncements at any time. TOP's business is conducted in a manner consistent with the State law of California and is in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements applicable in the State of California. However, the readers should be aware that change in federal guidance on enforcement actions could adversely affect TOP's ability to access private and public capital required in order to support continuing operations and its ability to operate in the U.S.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Gabriella's Kitchen
For investment inquiries, please contact, Margot Micallef, Founder & CEO at [email protected] or Investor Relations at [email protected] or (800) 674-2239; for media inquiries, please contact Lana Rogers, Public Relations Consultant, at [email protected] or (403) 519-7959
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