Freshpet, Inc. Announces Manufacturing Leadership Transition

SECAUCUS, N.J., July 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT) (“Freshpet” or the “Company”) today announced that Stephen Weise, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing & Supply Chain, will begin a transition to retirement, which is anticipated at the end of 2022. Mr. Weise will continue to lead incremental production capacity planning and certain other manufacturing responsibilities through the end of 2021 and then focus exclusively on incremental capacity planning during 2022 until his retirement. Mr. Weise will continue to serve on our leadership team during this time.

Chris Taranto, Vice President of Supply Chain, will assume responsibility for the Company’s logistics operation, and Ricardo Moreno, Vice President of Manufacturing, will maintain oversight of the manufacturing operations at its Freshpet Kitchens. Both Mr. Taranto and Mr. Moreno will report directly to Billy Cyr, Chief Executive Officer.

“No single person could replace what Steve has done for Freshpet and we are so grateful for his many years of service. During his tenure, we have grown our net sales by almost 4x and by the time he fully retires next year we will have installed more than $1 billion in net sales capacity. We are incredibly grateful to him for his leadership and willingness to help our organization execute an orderly transition during this important time in our growth cycle,” said Billy Cyr, Freshpet’s Chief Executive Officer. “Ricardo Moreno, whom we hired last year as a key part of our succession planning, is now fully prepared to take on all the day-to-day manufacturing operations as VP of Manufacturing and Chris Taranto, VP of Supply Chain, will add logistics to his responsibilities. We are fortunate to have built a deep bench that has the capability to step into these important roles while Steve will retain responsibility for long-term capacity planning until his full retirement at the end of next year 2022.”

About Freshpet

Freshpet’s mission is to improve the lives of dogs and cats through the power of fresh, real food. Freshpet foods are blends of fresh meats, vegetables and fruits farmed locally and made at our Freshpet Kitchens.  We thoughtfully prepare our foods using natural ingredients, cooking them in small batches at lower temperatures to preserve the natural goodness of the ingredients. Freshpet foods and treats are kept refrigerated from the moment they are made until they arrive at Freshpet Fridges in your local market.

Our foods are available in select mass, grocery (including online), natural food, club, and pet specialty retailers across the United States, Canada and Europe. From the care we take to source our ingredients and make our food, to the moment it reaches your home, our integrity, transparency and social responsibility are the way we like to run our business. To learn more, visit www.freshpet.com.

Connect with Freshpet:

https://www.facebook.com/Freshpet 

https://twitter.com/Freshpet 

http://instagram.com/Freshpet 

http://pinterest.com/Freshpet 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshpet 

https://www.youtube.com/user/freshpet400 

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release constitute “forward-looking” statements. These statements are based on management’s current opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections regarding future events or future results. These forward-looking statements, including our statements around our future net sales capacity and any related risks associated with implementing our growth strategy, such as our limited manufacturing capacity, our ability to bring new production facilities online and any delays in our expansion plans, are only predictions, not historical fact, and involve certain risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions. Actual results or events could differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release. Freshpet undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Contact
ICR
Jeff Sonnek
646-277-1263
jeff.sonnek@icrinc.com