Refreshed Board to Oversee the Continued
Implementation of Strategies to Drive Growth and Enhance
Shareholder Value
Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: APRN) today announced that it
has appointed four new members to its Board of Directors with deep
experience and new perspectives relevant to Blue Apron’s business
and operations, effective October 15, 2020. The refreshed board
will support the company as it continues to execute its strategies
to drive growth and enhance shareholder value. Specifically, the
four new directors bring to the Board extensive, proven experience
in e-commerce, marketing and direct-to-consumer, digital media,
operations and finance. Following these appointments, a majority of
the company’s Board will continue to be independent directors.
The new directors joining the Board next month are:
- Jennifer Carr-Smith, former CEO of Peapod and leader at Groupon
with 25 years of experience in digital and e-commerce
operations;
- Peter Faricy, former CEO of Discovery Direct-to-Consumer and
leader of Amazon Marketplace with deep direct-to-consumer and scale
expertise;
- Brenda Freeman, CEO of Arteza and a seasoned digital
transformation leader with 23 years of experience in e-commerce and
marketing; and
- Barry Salzberg, former CEO of Deloitte and former professor at
Columbia Business School with 40 years of leadership, finance and
accounting experience.
In connection with the appointment of the four new directors,
Blue Apron also announced the resignations of Brian Kelley, Tracy
Britt Cool, Julie Bradley and Gary Hirshberg from the Board,
effective October 15, 2020.
The company expects the refreshed Board’s skills and record of
success will support the next phase of Blue Apron’s growth strategy
as the company continues to invest in its product and marketing to
build further operating momentum. The company remains focused on
providing customers variety, flexibility and healthier options with
recent efforts, including testing the ability for customers to
order multiple boxes per week and plans to launch a range of new
recipe customization options in the fourth quarter.
Matt Salzberg, Blue Apron co-founder and Chairman of the Board,
commented, “I am proud Blue Apron has attracted such talented new
board members who have the experience and accomplishments to
further advance the company’s operating and financial performance.
Combined with the company's recent achievement of year-over-year
growth in the second quarter and the strengthening of our balance
sheet, I am confident we are well positioned to enhance shareholder
value. The Board unanimously approved our Board refresh process.
Brian, Tracy, Julie and Gary have each been an incredible asset to
us the last several years and I want to thank them for their hard
work, counsel and contributions.”
“For more than a year, we have been executing our three-part
return to growth plan, and these efforts have grown and
strengthened our business, including consistent improvements in
average revenue per customer and orders per customer, alongside the
increased demand we have seen from the pandemic,” said Linda
Findley Kozlowski, Blue Apron’s Chief Executive Officer and
President. “We believe that Blue Apron is well positioned for
continued progress against our growth initiatives. I am excited to
lead Blue Apron into the next phase of its growth strategy with
contributions and new perspectives from Jennifer, Peter, Brenda and
Barry, as we look to continue to execute on our strategies to
engage current and potential customers, while driving enhanced
shareholder value.”
Jennifer Carr-Smith brings to Blue Apron a successful long-term
record of building, scaling and transforming businesses across a
variety of e-commerce and digital sectors. Currently, Ms.
Carr-Smith operates as a strategic advisor for several companies
and holds Non-Executive Director roles at Perdue Farms, Full
Harvest and Australia-based Woolworths Group. Ms. Carr-Smith is a
seasoned e-commerce operating executive with 25 years of digital
and e-commerce industry experience across a wide range of companies
and roles, including as Chair of the Board and Interim Chief
Executive Officer of Swap.com, General Manager and Senior Vice
President North America Local of Groupon, Chief Executive Officer
and President of Peapod, Chief Operating Officer of J.Crew Group’s
J.Crew Direct, Chief Operating Officer of giggle, Chief Operating
Officer of Gilt.com, Vice President of Strategy, Finance &
Operations of Polo Ralph Lauren, and Senior Director of Operations
at drugstore.com. Ms. Carr-Smith will serve as a Class II director
with a term expiring at the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders,
and will serve as a member and chair of the Board’s Compensation
Committee as well as a member of the Audit Committee.
Peter Faricy brings career experience spanning more than 20
years of leadership in operations for major companies that sit at
the intersection of technology and media. He is the former Chief
Executive Officer of Global Direct-to-Consumer for Discovery, Inc.,
overseeing the company’s DTC businesses, including Motor Trend,
Food Network Kitchen, Magnolia, DPlay, Eurosport Player and GOLFTV.
Prior to joining Discovery, Mr. Faricy spent 13 years with Amazon,
most recently as Vice President of Amazon Marketplace, where he was
responsible for the growth of millions of third-party sellers
worldwide. Previously, Mr. Faricy oversaw Amazon’s music and movie
product categories in North America. Prior to Amazon, Mr. Faricy
held management roles at Borders Group, Ford Motor Company, and
McKinsey & Co. Mr. Faricy will serve as a Class III director,
with a term expiring at the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders and
will serve as a member of the Board’s Compensation, and Nominating
and Governance Committees.
Brenda Freeman has a proven record of driving innovation and
growth for world-class brands and start-ups. She is Chief Executive
Officer of Arteza, a leading direct-to-consumer arts and crafts
manufacturing and supply company, and current or former board
director of Avnet, Caleres, Herman Miller and Under Armour. She is
a seasoned digital transformation leader with 23 years of industry
experience across a number of companies of all sizes, including as
Chief Marketing Officer at Magic Leap, Executive Vice President and
Chief Marketing Officer at National Geographic Channel, Global Head
of TV Marketing at DreamWorks Animation, Chief Marketing Officer at
Turner Broadcasting System, Senior Vice President of Integrated
Marketing and Partnerships, Nickelodeon at Viacom, Vice President
of Consumer Marketing at VH1, Vice President of Affiliate
Marketing, Entertainment Group at MTV Networks, and Executive
Director at ABC Radio Network. Ms. Freeman will serve as a Class II
director, with a term expiring at the 2022 annual meeting of
stockholders, and will serve as a member and chair of the Board’s
Nominating and Governance Committee as well as a member of the
Audit Committee.
With over 40 years of experience, Barry Salzberg brings
significant leadership, finance and accounting experience to the
Board of Blue Apron. He was the Global Chief Executive Officer of
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, until his retirement in May 2015.
While at Deloitte, Mr. Salzberg also served as Chief Executive
Officer of Deloitte LLP (USA) and Managing Partner, USA. Mr.
Salzberg is a member of the Thomson Reuters board and serves as the
chairman of the board of directors for 10Eqs, a digital management
consultancy startup. He previously was a member of the boards of
New Profit, College Summit, the Committee Encouraging Corporate
Philanthropy, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Center for Audit
Quality, United Way Worldwide and YMCA of Greater New York. He is a
member of the New York State Bar Association, the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State
Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the New York County
Lawyers’ Association. Mr. Salzberg will serve as a Class I director
with a term expiring at the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders.
Mr. Salzberg is the father of Matt Salzberg and is the beneficial
owner of approximately 34.8% of the voting power of Blue Apron’s
outstanding capital stock as of August 31, 2020.
About Blue Apron
Blue Apron’s mission is to make incredible home cooking
accessible to everyone. Launched in 2012, Blue Apron is reimagining
the way that food is produced, distributed and consumed, and as a
result, building a better food system that benefits consumers, food
producers and the planet. Blue Apron has developed an integrated
ecosystem that enables the company to work in a direct, coordinated
manner with farmers and artisans to deliver high-quality products
to customers nationwide at compelling values.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements concerning Blue Apron
Holdings, Inc. and its future expectations, plans and prospects
that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this
purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In
some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms
such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,"
"could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates,"
"believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or
the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Blue
Apron has based these forward-looking statements on its current
expectations and projections about future events and financial
trends that it believes may affect its business, financial
condition and results of operations. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are
subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions
including, without limitation, the company achieving its
expectations with regards to its expenses and net revenue, its
ability to maintain and grow adjusted EBITDA and to achieve or
maintain profitability, the sufficiency of the company’s cash
resources, the company’s need for additional financing, its ability
to effectively manage expenses and cash flows, and its ability to
remain in compliance with the financial and other covenants under
the company’s indebtedness; its ability, including the timing and
extent, to obtain additional financing and sufficiently manage
costs and to fund investments in operations in amounts necessary to
support the execution of the company’s growth strategy; its
ability, including the timing and extent, to successfully execute
the company’s growth strategy, cost-effectively attract new
customers and retain existing customers, and to expand its
direct-to-consumer product offerings; its ability to sustain the
increase in demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and to
retain new customers; any material and adverse impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s operations and results,
including as a result of the loss of adequate labor, whether as a
result of heightened absenteeism or challenges in recruiting and
retention or otherwise, prolonged closures, or series of temporary
closures, of one or more fulfillment centers and supply chain or
carrier interruptions or delays; changes in consumer behaviors that
could lead to declines in demand, both as COVID-19 stay-at-home
orders and restaurant and other restrictions are lifted to varying
degrees across the United States, and/or consumer fears dissipate,
and/or as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on financial
markets and economic conditions, including on consumer spending
habits; its ability to identify, consummate and realize the
anticipated benefits of strategic alternatives and the structure,
terms and specific risks and uncertainties associated with any such
potential strategic alternatives; achieving its expectations
regarding the benefits and expected costs and charges associated
with the company’s closure of its Arlington, Texas fulfillment
center; its ability to maintain and grow the value of the company’s
brand and reputation; its expectations regarding, and the stability
of, its supply chain, including potential shortages or
interruptions in the supply or delivery of ingredients, as a result
of COVID-19 or otherwise; its ability to maintain food safety and
prevent food-borne illness incidents; its ability to accommodate
general changes in consumer tastes and preferences or in consumer
spending; its ability to effectively compete; its ability to
attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel in
sufficient numbers; its ability to comply with modified or new laws
and regulations applying to its business; risks resulting from its
vulnerability to adverse weather conditions, natural disasters and
public health crises, including pandemics; its ability to obtain
and maintain intellectual property protection; and other risks more
fully described in the company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ended June 30, 2020 filed with the SEC on July 31,
2020, and in other filings that the company may make with the SEC
in the future. The company assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200930005908/en/
Investor Contact investor.relations@blueapron.com
Joseph Jaffoni, Richard Land, James Leahy JCIR aprn@jcir.com or
212-835-8500
Media Contact Muriel Lussier Blue Apron
muriel.lussier@blueapron.com
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