Alter Eco appoints industry veteran Mike Forbes as new CEO
Alter Eco, a chocolate-centric, sustainability-directed snack company, has announced the Company’s Board of Directors appointed Mike Forbes as chief executive officer. He will assume day-to-day leadership of the Company and will join Alter Eco’s Board of Directors. A 12-year veteran in the natural products industry and core member of One Step Closer to an Organic Sustainable Community (OSC²), Forbes was tapped for his expertise and leadership in scaling CPG businesses while maintaining a brand’s core mission and values. Alter Eco former co-CEOs, Edouard Rollet and Mathieu Senard, will remain at the sustainable food company as Co-Founders, but are shifting their focus to establishing the Alter Eco Foundation, a non-profit vehicle for social and environmental change set to launch in 2019.
“I’m truly honored to join the Alter Eco team,” said Forbes. “I am a huge fan of the Alter Eco products, and a long-admirer of the brand’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. I am excited to play an active role in fortifying its channel and portfolio growth.”
Prior to joining Alter Eco, Forbes was the executive vice president and general manager at California Olive Ranch; a brand he helped grow from $7 million to over $125 million. There he led a team of about 50 employees across operations, sales and marketing departments, and played an instrumental role expanding national distribution, overseeing investments and the acquisition of Lucini Italia. Earlier in his career, Forbes served in marketing roles at General Mills and Procter & Gamble.
“Mike has been a long-time friend through our mutual relationship with OSC², so when the opportunity to bring him on board presented itself, we knew it was the right fit,” said Rollet.
Senard added, “This is a seamless transition of leadership that allows Edouard and me to continue expanding upon the original reason we founded Alter Eco—to bring delicious, healthy food to market, catalyzing impact around what we call full circle sustainability: social justice, environmental stewardship, climate change alleviation and sustainable packaging.”
Earlier this year, Alter Eco received a significant new investment from consumer growth equity group NextWorld Evergreen Fund, LP. David Fife, a Partner at NextWorld commented, “We invest in consumer companies built around a core set of principles and inspired by leaders committed to asking more of their companies and the products they produce. We welcome Mike Forbes to the Alter Eco team as we enter the next phase of growth for the company.”
In addition to Forbes, Alter Eco has strengthened its executive team with the addition of Eric Lallart as Vice President of Operations and Robin Ynes as Vice President of Finance. With nearly two decades of operations experience, Lallart has supported growth and increased bottom line sales for global food giants like Devondale Murray Goulburn (Australia’s largest dairy foods company) and Danone (maker of Silk, Activia, Evian and more). With more than 10 years of experience in the natural products industry and 20 years leading financial organizations at best-in-class consumer products and distribution companies, Ynes previously held positions at Coca-Cola/Odwalla, Zola Beverage and Core-Mark Distributors.
2018 has been a strong year for Alter Eco, which unveiled a new brand refresh last spring, and reached 10,000+ stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Natural Grocers and Wegmans. Following a successful launch of its Dark Chocolate Coconut Clusters earlier this year, Alter Eco is launching 3-Packs of its popular Chocolate Truffles in November.
To learn more about Alter Eco and its expansive portfolio of organic, fair trade chocolate snacks and confections, please visit www.alterecofoods.com.
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