Village Farms International, Inc. (“Village Farms” or the
“Company”) (NASDAQ: VFF) today announced the appointment of Kathy
Mahoney as an independent member of its Board of Directors,
effective March 10, 2023. Ms. Mahoney is a veteran of the consumer
goods distribution industry, having served in multiple executive
level roles with industry leader, SpartanNash, in addition to her
distinguished legal career.
“I am very pleased to welcome Ms. Mahoney, with
her extensive accomplishments and expertise, to the Village Farms
Board,” said John McLernon, Chairman of the Board of Village Farms.
“Ms. Mahoney brings to the Village Farms Board a 40-plus year legal
and business career, with specific experience navigating the
complexities of highly regulated consumer products markets,
including tobacco and CBD. Her guidance and counsel will be
invaluable as Village Farms continues to pursue high growth
plant-based consumer product opportunities, with a focus on
emerging legal cannabinoid markets, in North America & around
the world.”
Most recently, Ms. Mahoney served for more than
15 years in executive level operational and legal positions with
SpartanNash Company (Nasdaq: SPTN), a Fortune400 grocery and
consumer goods distributor, wholesaler and retailer, and its
predecessor Nash Finch Company. From 2017 to 2020, Ms. Mahoney
served as President of SpartanNash division, MDV (now SpartanNash
Military), which, at approximately $2 billion in revenue is the
largest supplier to U.S. military commissaries and exchanges and
recognized as one of the premier worldwide distributors. As
President, MDV, she was responsible for the division’s strategy,
financial and operational performance, as well as development of
the military private label program, which was awarded the exclusive
contract to supply the Defense Commissary Agency. She was also
responsible for negotiating the distribution of tobacco and related
products, across a large retailers’ 18,000-plus store network,
which involved navigating the regulatory landscapes of hundreds of
taxing jurisdictions, as well as distribution of CBD products to
SpartanNash’s wholesale customers and its own retail stores. Ms.
Mahoney also served with SpartanNash in several other executive and
legal capacities, culminating in her role as Executive Vice
President and Chief Legal Officer, as well as twice serving as the
Interim Chief Human Resources Officer during transitions in human
resources leadership. She also served as a member of the Board of
Managers of SpartanNash’s joint venture, Fresh City Market LLC from
its inception in 2013 until 2021.
Prior to her tenure with SpartanNash, Ms.
Mahoney practiced law for more than 20 years, including as Managing
Partner at Larson King, LLP, and Partner at Oppenheimer Wolff &
Donnelly. Ms. Mahoney began practicing law as Special Assistant
Attorney General with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office.
Ms. Mahoney has received grocery industry
recognition throughout her career, having been named one of the 100
Most Influential Women in Michigan by Crain’s (2016), a Woman of
Influence in the Food Industry by the Griffin Report (2018), a Top
Woman in Grocery by Progressive Grocer (2012 and 2019), and a Women
in Business Industry Leader by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business
Journal (2011).
Ms. Mahoney is a former member of the National
Association of Corporate Directors, and a former member of the
Grand Rapids, MI Chamber of Commerce Governance Committee and the
Policy Committee and has more than 25 years of nonprofit board
service, including serving in the role of Chair. She holds a JD,
cum laude, from Syracuse University School of Law.
About Village Farms International,
Inc.
Village Farms leverages decades of experience as
a large-scale, Controlled Environment Agriculture-based, vertically
integrated supplier for high-value, high-growth plant-based
Consumer Packaged Goods opportunities, with a strong foundation as
a leading fresh produce supplier to grocery and large-format
retailers throughout the US and Canada, and new high-growth
opportunities in the cannabis and CBD categories in North America
and selected markets internationally.
In Canada, the Company's wholly-owned Canadian
subsidiary, Pure Sunfarms, is one of the single largest cannabis
operations in the world, the lowest-cost greenhouse producer and
one of Canada’s best-selling brands. The Company also owns 70% of
Québec-based, Rose LifeScience, a leading third-party cannabis
products commercialization expert in the Province of Québec.
In the US, wholly-owned Balanced Health
Botanicals is one of the leading CBD brands and e-commerce
platforms in the country. Subject to compliance with all applicable
US federal and state laws and stock exchange rules, Village Farms
plans to enter the US high-THC cannabis market via multiple
strategies, leveraging one of the largest greenhouse operations in
the country (more than 5.5 million square feet in West Texas), as
well as the operational and product expertise gained through Pure
Sunfarms' cannabis success in Canada.
Internationally, Village Farms is targeting
selected, nascent, legal cannabis and CBD opportunities with
significant medium- and long-term potential, with an initial focus
on the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.
Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the U.S.
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act") and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), and is subject to the safe harbor created by those
sections. This press release also contains "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
laws. We refer to such forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information collectively as "forward-looking
statements". Forward-looking statements may relate to the Company's
future outlook or financial position and anticipated events or
results and may include statements regarding the financial
position, business strategy, budgets, expansion plans, litigation,
projected production, projected costs, capital expenditures,
financial results, taxes, plans and objectives of or involving the
Company. Particularly, statements regarding future results,
performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities for the
Company, the greenhouse vegetable or produce industry or the
cannabis industry are forward-looking statements. In some cases,
forward-looking information can be identified by such terms as
"can", "outlook", "may", "might", "will", "could", "should",
"would", "occur", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe",
"intend", "try", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue",
"likely", "schedule", "objectives", or the negative or grammatical
variation thereof or other similar expressions concerning matters
that are not historical facts. The forward-looking statements in
this press release are subject to risks that may include, but are
not limited to: our limited operating history in the cannabis and
cannabinoids industry, including that of Pure Sunfarms, Inc. (“Pure
Sunfarms”), Rose LifeScience Inc. (“Rose” or “Rose LifeScience”),
Balanced Health Botanicals, LLC (“Balanced Health”) and our
operations of growing hemp in the United States; the legal status
of the cannabis business of Pure Sunfarms and Rose and the hemp
business of Balanced Health; risks relating to the integration of
Balanced Health and Rose into our consolidated business; risks
relating to obtaining additional financing, including our
dependence upon credit facilities; potential difficulties in
achieving and/or maintaining profitability; variability of product
pricing; risks inherent in the cannabis, hemp, CBD, cannabinoids,
and agricultural businesses; market position; ability to leverage
current business relationships for future business involving hemp
and cannabinoids; the ability of Pure Sunfarms and Rose to
cultivate and distribute cannabis in Canada; existing and new
governmental regulations, including risks related to regulatory
compliance and regarding obtaining and maintaining licenses; legal
and operational risks relating to expected conversion of our
greenhouses to cannabis production in Canada and in the United
States; risks related to rules and regulations at the US federal
(Food and Drug Administration and United States Department of
Agriculture), state and municipal rules and regulations with
respect to produce and hemp, cannabidiol-based products
commercialization; retail consolidation, technological advances and
other forms of competition; transportation disruptions; product
liability and other potential litigation; retention of key
executives; labor issues; uninsured and underinsured losses;
vulnerability to rising energy costs; inflationary effects on costs
of cultivation and transportation; recessionary effects on demand
of our products; environmental, health and safety risks, foreign
exchange exposure, risks associated with cross-border trade;
difficulties in managing our growth; restrictive covenants under
our credit facilities; natural catastrophes; the ongoing and
developing COVID-19 pandemic; and tax risks.
The Company has based these forward-looking
statements on factors and assumptions about future events and
financial trends that it believes may affect its financial
condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial
needs. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this
press release are based upon assumptions that management believes
are reasonable based on information currently available to
management, there can be no assurance that actual results will be
consistent with these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control,
which may cause the Company's or the industry's actual results,
performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities in future
periods to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, among other things, the factors contained in the Company's
filings with securities regulators, including this press release.
In particular, we caution you that our forward-looking statements
are subject to the ongoing and developing circumstances related to
the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have a material adverse effect on
our business, operations and future financial results.
When relying on forward-looking statements to
make decisions, the Company cautions readers not to place undue
reliance on these statements, as forward-looking statements involve
significant risks and uncertainties and should not be read as
guarantees of future results, performance, achievements, prospects
and opportunities. The forward-looking statements made in this
press release relate only to events or information as of the date
on which the statements are made in this press release. Except as
required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or
revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on
which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
Contact Information
Lawrence ChamberlainInvestor
RelationsLodeRock Advisors(416)
519-4196lawrence.chamberlain@loderockadvisors.com |
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