BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Aggressive growth and expansion into new channels has been supported by several new faces on the Ripple Foods Leadership Team. Ripple Foods is a leader in the plant-based dairy and pea-protein space, providing a variety of products including Ripple Plant-Based Milk, Ripple Plant-Based Protein Shakes and Ripple Frozen Desserts.
With a growth mindset and more focused strategies, Ripple’s tenured executive leaders have seen sales revenue growth more than double year-to-date compared to the same period in 2019.
“This year Ripple has improved its gross margins by double digits and successfully expanded distribution and share of market – bringing Ripple SKUs into Walmart and convenience stores and expanding into direct-to-consumer, school and club channels,” said Laura Flanagan, Chief Executive Officer at Ripple Foods.
The Ripple Leadership Team is focused on partnerships with retailers to expand distribution across the plant-based portfolio, driving velocities with consumers behind meaningful insights and communication, and continuing to advance Ripple’s productivity initiatives to achieve company margin objectives. In addition, new team resources in Marketing and R&D will further develop Ripple’s innovation and technology pipeline to drive future growth.
Recent additions Laura Flanagan, Chief Executive Officer, David Cooper, Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Manoj Kumar, Chief Technology Officer and Scott Lee, VP of Marketing have brought experience in CPG Marketing, Technical Development, and Financial stewardship inclusive of both M&A and IPO readiness and execution.
“We expect to deliver strong revenue growth versus last year, while delivering double digit margin improvement,” said David Cooper, Chief Financial Officer at Ripple Foods. “Ripple’s sales grew 30% through May of this year, and we continue to see strong velocity growth on our core products.”
Laura Flanagan joined Ripple in October as Chief Executive Officer. Since joining Ripple, Flanagan has focused the company on its strategic growth priorities, including supporting the launch of Ripple’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce business. She is focused on accelerating the company’s revenue growth through expanded distribution, innovation, and marketing, while driving margin growth through optimized operations and supply chain.
“Ripple Foods has tremendous runway for growth, and my experience in scaling and optimizing food and beverage businesses is the perfect fit for the agenda ahead. I gravitated to our mission of creating food that is good for people and good for the planet,” said Flanagan. “We are building a great team to take Ripple’s growth to the next level. We plan to aggressively expand through new distribution, new products, and broaden our consumer base through awareness and trial.”
Prior to Ripple, Flanagan served as the CEO of Foster Farms, one of the largest branded poultry producers in the United States, where she drove the highest growth and market share levels in years. Flanagan also previously served as the President of the Snacks Division at ConAgra Foods and held leadership roles at PepsiCo. Flanagan earned her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and currently serves on the Board of Directors for two public companies: Callaway Golf, the leading brand of golf equipment, and Core-Mark International, the largest distributor of food and broad line products to the convenience store channel.
Each new Leadership Team member brings with them a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise that is crucial to growing the Ripple Foods footprint.
- David Cooper, Chief Finance Officer – Cooper has been CFO of ten companies, including Ripple, and has taken six companies public and completed over $24B of financial transactions. His food company experience includes executive roles at Premier Nutrition, PowerBar, Del Monte Fresh Produce, and Dole Food Company. David holds a MBA in Finance from NYU, and a BA in Economics from Yale University.
- Manoj Kumar, PhD, Chief Technology Officer– Dr. Kumar brings over 22 years of innovation and R&D knowledge in food ingredients and industrial biotechnology. Dr. Kumar’s scientific knowledge spans biotechnology subject matters in food ingredients, plant-based proteins, natural sweeteners, natural preservatives, food & crop protection, enzymes, biochemicals, fermentation, cellulosic biomass-based sugars production for bio-based sustainable materials, and bioethanol production. He has worked globally engaging multinational commercial collaborators, scientific and business teams to drive innovative top-line growth programs. Prior to joining Ripple, Dr. Kumar was Director of Science & Technology Food Ingredients Development at DSM Food Specialties.
- Scott Lee, VP of Marketing – Lee has over 17 years of marketing and general management experience in the CPG food and beverage industry providing top and bottom line results on large and small emerging businesses. He started his career at General Mills and worked on several iconic brands such as Cheerios and Yoplait, as well as emerging brands Annie’s and Cascadian Farm. He later joined WhiteWave Foods and led marketing for Earthbound Farm. Most recently, Lee has led both marketing and innovation teams within Danone North America on both Silk and Horizon Organic. Lee received an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
As Ripple builds an executive team with industry veterans, the entire company remains mission-oriented with a growth mindset.
About Ripple Foods
Berkeley-based Ripple Foods is a leader in developing innovative and delicious non-dairy products. Ripple products are powered by pure pea protein. With plant-based products including Milks, Half & Half, Protein Shakes, Frozen Dessert and an 8-oz On-theGo Pack, Ripple is perfect for people who believe nourishing the body is the first step to nourishing the soul. Every Ripple product is natural and vegan – free of soy, lactose, dairy, GMOs, and carrageenans. Sustainably produced and using significantly less water than dairy and other dairy alternatives, Ripple is built on the truth that even the smallest actions can have far-reaching impacts. Since its inception in 2016, Ripple has continued to revolutionize the dairy industry with leading technology processes. Ripple Foods is Dairy-Free, As it Should Be™.
For more information visit: www.ripplefoods.com and join the plant-based conversation with @ripplefoods on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.