Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKDA) has announced that Belinda Yao has joined the company as vice president of operations.
The company said Yao will oversee supply chain strategy for Arcadia's product manufacturing and production, including demand planning, procurement and supplier relationships, order fulfillment, inventory management, logistics, customer service and data analytics.
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"As we build our pipeline of consumer products made with GoodWheat, GoodHemp and SONOVA GLA safflower oil, we're expanding our manufacturing and supply chain capabilities to maximize growth," Matt Plavan, Arcadia CEO said in a statement.
"Belinda has a proven track record leading all aspects of the supply chain, including building things from scratch in start-up and small companies to leading supply chain innovation within Fortune 500 pharmaceutical, chemical and CPG companies. We welcome her expertise in developing an agile end-to-end infrastructure for delivering our healthy and nutritional products directly to consumers, through both online and retail channels," he added.
The company noted that Yao brings more than 20 years of management and leadership experience in the supply chain planning and operations area. Prior to joining Arcadia, she was the vice president of operations at Zola, a healthy plant-based beverages company, where she led their manufacturing and supply chain functions.
Before Zola, Yao served more than eight years with The Dannon Company, a premier multinational food-products company, where she held senior management positions in supply chain management. Yao began her career in senior procurement positions for both BASF and Roche in China, and she received her bachelor's degree from Beijing Technology and Business University.
"With a number of premium health and nutrition products being launched and added to the commercial pipeline, Arcadia is at an exciting point in the evolution of its direct-to-consumer business," said Yao. "I look forward to building a robust and efficient organizational capability to support the expected rapid scale up of these exciting new products."
Arcadia Biosciences is a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional value of crops and food ingredients. The company's GoodWheat branded ingredients deliver health benefits to consumers and enable consumer packaged goods companies to differentiate their brands in the marketplace. The company's GoodHemp seed catalog delivers genetically superior hemp seeds, transplants and extracts, bringing the benefits of modern agriculture to an emerging crop.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com