Boosh Plant-Based Brands Inc (CSE:VEGI, OTC:VGGIF). said it has begun its US expansion with the first shipment of 16,000 units to its US distribution warehouse.
The shipment includes an equal portion of the company's six frozen entrees - Shepard's Pie with Beyond Meat, Rustic Pot Pie, Mexican Fiesta Bowl, Coconut Curry Cali, Mac & Cheeze & Peas and Veggie Bolognese with Beyond Meat.
"As we have begun to send samples to our US food broker to distribute to key accounts in the US the feedback has been extremely positive. In fact, our first shipment to the US distribution center was anticipated to be 10,000 units, however, because of the high interest, we've increased it to 16,000 units," said Boosh founder and president Connie Marples.
READ: Boosh Plant-Based Brands to launch new vegan mac and cheese at upcoming Planted Expo in Vancouver
The company also announced, after an extended search, the hiring of TJ Walsh as its VP of sales for North America. Boosh's recently formed sales department will be reporting to Walsh, who will be responsible for all sales strategy, development, direction and budget. He will be developing on-site sales training and policy formulation, and will report directly to Marples, and CEO Jim Pakulis.
"The timing of our first shipment to the US is aligning perfectly with the hiring of TJ. As we've grown the SKU count from 6 at the beginning of the year to 24 SKU's today, we'll be needing to expand our North American sales department, and we believe TJ is the perfect candidate for the undertaking. And the fact he grew up in the US and now resides in Vancouver is another major advantage for Boosh," said Pakulis.
Boosh noted that Walsh has extensive sales experience including, but not limited to, to national director of sales for Silver Hills, a plant-based bakery and organic foods company. Prior to that he was sales manager for UNFI, North America's largest all-natural and organic distributor.
Previously Walsh spent eight years with Bolthouse Farms eventually being promoted to director of Field Sales. At Bolthouse Farms he was responsible for implementing a multi-million dollar sales budget, overseeing 30 sales representatives, developing strategic growth plans for selling all new product lines, and creating merchandising and sales strategies for Walmart, Kroger, Target, Safeway (NYSE:SWY)/Albertsons, HEB, Loblaws, Save On, Kroger's and Whole Foods.
"I have over fourteen years of either selling or overseeing sales teams in the natural food industry, both in the US and Canada. With my comprehensive knowledge and deep relationships with grocery store buyers, I believe I'll be a strong asset and will provide sales leadership as we continue to expand our retail footprint throughout North America," added Walsh.
In other news, the company said it has also retained the services of Globull Media LLC to provide investment relations services. The provider is charging the company US$50,000 for one month of service.
Boosh Plant-Based Brands, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Boosh Food - www.booshfood.com - offers high-quality, non-GMO, gluten-free, 100% plant-based nutritional comfort foods for the whole family. It currently offers six frozen meals and three refrigerated meals which are sold throughout Canada.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com