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Former Turning Points Brands executive Thomas Metzler brings decades of finance and operational industry experience to Kaival Brands as its new Chief Financial Officer
Current President & Chief Operating Officer Eric Mosser promoted to Chief Executive Officer
GRANT-VALKARIA, Fla., Aug. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaival Brands Innovations Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:KAVL) ("Kaival Brands," the "Company" or "we," "our" or similar terms), a company focused on incubating and commercializing innovative products into mature and dominant brands, with a current focus on the distribution of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), which are intended for adults 21 and over, today announced the appointment of Thomas J. Metzler as the Company's new Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), Treasurer and Secretary, effective as of August 1, 2023, replacing Mark Thoenes, who has served as Interim CFO since 2021.
The Company has also promoted its current President & Chief Operating Officer, Eric Mosser, to the position of Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Metzler brings over 20 years of finance and operational experience in the vaping and consumer products sector, previously serving as Managing Director of a Division of Turning Point Brands (NYSE:TPB), a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded alternative smoking accessories and consumables with active ingredients. At Turning Point Brands, Mr. Metzler led a team to transform the process of financial management efficiencies, which improved cost controls, managed inventory turn, developed strategic product promotions to accelerate product distribution, and built strategic alliances with suppliers. Mr. Metzler also developed & monitored key performance indicators ("KPIs") which generated record growth with retail and wholesale distributors.
Mr. Metzler has an extensive knowledge of vaping technologies, building strong partnerships with industry stakeholders and has been actively engaged in national trade and industry standards organizations. In addition to assuming responsibility for all public company accounting, reporting and compliance, Mr. Metzler's initial key areas of focus at Kaival Brands will be on maximizing inventory turn and driving revenue, developing and monitoring KPIs and controlling costs. Mr. Metzler also has experience in mergers and acquisitions and post-acquisition integration, which he will bring to bear on the vaporizer and inhalation patent portfolio acquired by the Company in May 2023.
Prior to Turning Point Brands, Mr. Metzler served as Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer of Vaporbeast, where he presided over rapid revenue growth while maintaining above average industry margins and profitability. Vaporbeast was acquired by Turning Point Brands in 2016. Mr. Metzler was a licensed CPA for over 20 years, during which time he provided accounting and related consulting services to many companies. He began his career working with public and private companies in the assurance practice at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP in Boston. Mr. Metzler earned a B.S. in Accounting from Canisius College.
Eric Mosser, Chief Executive Officer and President of Kaival Brands, commented, "We are very excited to have Tom join our senior management team and believe his hiring represents a key building block for the future of Kaival Brands. Tom brings to us a wealth of experience and knowledge across all of the key elements of the CFO's office including treasury, finance, and accounting. He also has tremendous knowledge of business operations in our industry and will therefore greatly contribute to the crafting and implementation of our growth plans. On behalf of our board of directors, we welcome Tom and give thanks to Mark Thoenes for his excellent work as our interim CFO the past few years."
Mr. Metzler commented "Kaival Brands is a company with a very promising future, and I am looking forward to bringing my experience and track record in helping business grow and succeed to the company. The pieces for success are all assembled – a world class product in Bidi Stick, an international collaboration with Philip Morris, strong intellectual property, a knowledgeable and supportive board of directors, and future value drivers to strive towards as we look to scale revenue. I'm ready to get to work in helping Eric and the team make this promising future a reality."
Newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer, Eric Mosser, brings over a decade of senior leadership experience, including since 2020 at Kaival Brands. Mr. Mosser will retain the position of President.
With extensive previous executive experience in information technology, Mr. Mosser worked from 2012 to 2014 as Director of Information Technology at Timbercon Inc., a fiber-optic design company and ITAR manufacturing facility in Oregon. In 2014, Mr. Mosser created Lasermycig LLC, a specialized custom laser-engraving service for electronic cigarettes and vaporizers and served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2020. Beginning in 2015, along with Nirajkumar Patel (the Company's Chief Science and Regulatory Officer and the owner of Bidi Vapor, LLC), Mr. Mosser founded and acted as CEO of Chillcorp Ltd., a full-service corporation managing all operations of four companies: Just Chill Products LLC, Relax Lab Inc., RLX Lab LLC, and KC Innovations Lab Inc. Mr. Mosser studied business management at Arizona State University before graduating from Rio Salado College.
