LEADING CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS EXECUTIVE TO
LEAD APHRIA AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
ELEVATES TENURED INFORMATION AND SECURITY
LEADER
ADDS HUMAN RESOURCES VETERAN
LEAMINGTON, ON, May 14, 2019 /CNW/ - Aphria Inc. ("Aphria"
or the "Company") (TSX: APHA and NYSE: APHA), a leading
global cannabis company today announced several new executive
appointments including James Meiers
to the role of Chief Operating Officer, Aphria Leamington,
Tim Purdie as Chief Information
Officer & Chief Information Security Officer, and Maureen Berry as Vice President, Corporate Human
Resources.
The Company also announced that Jakob Ripshtein, Aphria's
President, will resign from the Company. Mr. Ripshtein will remain
in his current role until June 7,
2019. His current responsibilities will be shared among the
existing senior leadership team.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors and Aphria team, we thank
Jakob for his contributions to the Company over the past year and
wish him well in his future endeavors. He has been instrumental in
assembling the incredible team we are fortunate to have today that
will carry his responsibilities forward," said Irwin D. Simon, Interim Chief Executive Officer
of Aphria Inc. "I am very pleased to welcome Jim and Maureen to
Aphria, and to promote Tim. A top priority for us is to continue to
build our executive talent and culture. We believe today's
appointments demonstrate our commitment to adding depth, experience
and leadership to our team as we further advance Aphria's strategic
priorities in Canada and around
the world."
"At Aphria, we remain focused on creating long-term shareholder
value by leveraging our strong brand positioning, superior
distribution model, product innovation, industrial scale
cultivation and automation, medical-use leadership, and our
strategic global platform, which we intend to amplify using
proceeds from the Company's recent US$350M offering," continued Simon. "We are
pleased to share that the ramp-up of our growing operations in
Parts IV and V at Aphria One are progressing smoothly and Aphria
One is on-track to reach its annualized production capacity of
110,000 kilograms by the end of 2019"
Simon concluded, "We have great opportunities around the world,
including the recent award of our cultivation license in
Germany, as well as in the U.S.,
where we are thoughtfully moving forward with strategic priorities
to be in a position to succeed as the U.S. market evolves"
New Executive Bios
James Meiers, Chief Operating
Officer, Aphria Leamington
Mr. Meiers joins Aphria Inc. from
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., a leading natural and organic
products company with operations in North
America, Europe,
Asia and the Middle East, where he was a Senior Executive.
Over his 14-year tenure at The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., he held
various executive roles including President Celestial Seasonings,
Hain Celestial Personal Care, CEO Hain Pure Protein and Chief
Supply Chain Officer of Hain Grocery & Snacks. He has over 30
years of supply chain experience and general management for
consumer-packaged goods companies, including H.J. Heinz and Kraft
Food.
Tim Purdie, Chief Information
Officer & Chief Information Security Officer
With over
30 years of experience prior to joining Aphria Inc., Mr. Purdie
held successive executive leadership positions as Chief Operating
Officer, Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Director,
as well as other senior management positions in well-known
international companies such as Xede Consulting Group, Sandvine,
Research In Motion (Blackberry) and OpenText. In addition, Mr.
Purdie holds designations as Certified Information Security
Manager, Certified Supply Chain Professional, Lean Six Sigma Black
Belt, Master Project Manager, Certified Scrum Master, and Certified
Rummler-Brache Process Improvement consultant.
Maureen Berry, Vice President,
Corporate Human Resources
Prior to joining Aphria Inc., Ms.
Berry spent 15 years as the Corporate Human Resources Executive at
Canada Health Infoway. She's also held the roles of Vice-President,
Human Resources for Certicom Corp., Vice-President of Human
Resources for NRX Global Corp. and Vice-President Human Resources
Consulting for Mainstream Access Corp. She has worked at the
national and international levels in structuring and managing human
resource corporate and consulting functions. Her experience
includes consulting and professional services with Coopers and
Lybrand/PwC as well as with other firms in Canada.
We Have A Good Thing Growing
About Aphria Inc.
Aphria Inc. is a leading global
cannabis company driven by an unrelenting commitment to our people,
the planet, product quality and innovation. Headquartered in
Leamington, Ontario – the
greenhouse capital of Canada –
Aphria Inc. has been setting the standard for the low-cost
production of high-quality cannabis at scale, grown in the most
natural conditions possible. Focusing on untapped opportunities and
backed by the latest technologies, Aphria Inc. is committed to
bringing breakthrough innovation to the global cannabis market. The
Company's portfolio of brands is grounded in expertly-researched
consumer insights designed to meet the needs of every consumer
segment. Rooted in our founders' multi-generational expertise in
commercial agriculture, Aphria Inc. drives sustainable long-term
shareholder value through a diversified approach to innovation,
strategic partnerships and global expansion, with a presence in
more than 10 countries across 5 continents.
For more information, visit: aphriainc.com
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain
information in this news release constitutes forward-looking
statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that
are contained in this news release that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements.
Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as
"may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe",
"intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are
not limited to, statements with respect to internal expectations
and future annualized production capacity. Forward-looking
statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including,
without limitation, risks associated with general economic
conditions; adverse industry events; marketing costs; loss of
markets; future legislative and regulatory developments involving
cannabis; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and
external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on
favourable terms; the cannabis industry in Canada generally, income tax and regulatory
matters; the ability of Aphria Inc. to implement its business
strategies; competition; crop failure; currency and interest rate
fluctuations and other risks.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive.
Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the
plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will
occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by
management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect
and actual results may differ materially from those
anticipated.
The forward-looking statements included in this news release are
made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not
undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking
statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or
otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws.
Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are
expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
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SOURCE Aphria Inc.