The Real Good Food Company Appoints Jim Behling As CFO

Author: Benzinga Newsdesk | May 01, 2024 06:02pm

Respected Finance Executive Jim Behling Appointed CFO to Revitalize Finance & Reporting Function, Concurrent with Hiring of John Bissett, CPA as Senior Vice President of Finance, Controller

Maturity of PMC Credit Agreement Extended by One Year to 12/31/2026

Measured Channel Retail Sales Data from Circana Reflects 110% Increase in Consumption of RGF Products in the Four Weeks Ended 4/21/2024

CHERRY HILL, N.J., May 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Real Good Food Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGF) ("Real Good Foods" or the "Company"), a leading health and wellness frozen and refrigerated foods company, today announced the appointment of multiple senior executives to revitalize the finance, procurement, supply chain and business management functions.

Executive Appointments - Finance

Jim Behling, a respected finance executive with over 15 years of experience in both the food manufacturing and packaged goods industry, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. His experience includes executive roles at ZENB and Nu-World Foods, where he was accountable for legal, governance, strategy, supply chain and plant operations. In addition, Jim brings 20 years of professional services experience at firms such as Arthur Andersen and Grant Thornton, with roles in the audit and consulting practices areas where he served middle-market and publicly traded companies.

Experienced foods industry financial leader John Bissett, CPA has been appointed as Senior Vice President of Finance and Controller. Most recently, he served as CFO of Henry Broch Foods, specializing in financial reporting, audit, budget, compliance and internal controls. Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer of SAMPCO, a trader of global food products.

Executive Appointments - Operations

Duane Diez was appointed Senior Vice President of Procurement & Supply Chain, bringing over 30 years' experience supporting operations across the ready-to-eat prepared foods industry, with expertise in procurement, sales, product development, and production operations. Prior to Joining Real Good Foods, he was Vice President of Business Operations at Mickey Bearman Company, where he managed Copackers for Raw and Cooked meats, along with commodity purchasing. Previously he was Sr. Director, Process Lead, Smithfield Foods, Inc., coordinating efforts on identifying cost savings and efficiency improvement opportunities through implementation of best practices, simplification and asset utilization. 

Joe Laws was appointed Vice President of Business Management, bringing over 25 years of experience in the packaged goods industry with continual increased roles of responsibility with Smithfield Foods, Con Agra Foods and Nestle Foods. He was previously Vice President of Business Management at Smithfield Foods, with principal duties including P/L management, revenue growth, trade, and business simplification. There he was instrumental in increasing profitability for Eckrich Smoked Sausage and Nathan's Hot Dogs.

Management Commentary

"We are privileged to welcome these new senior leaders who will help us revitalize our core capabilities and most efficiently navigate domestic supply chains, financial reporting and the ongoing improvement in our business operations," said Tim Zimmer, Chief Executive Officer of The Real Good Food Company. "I'd also like to thank Akshay Jagdale for his years of service as CFO and wish him well in his future endeavors. Turning to recent consumption data from Circana, we have seen that measured channel retail sales of our products increased 110% year-over-year in the four weeks ended April 21st, 2024.

"Looking ahead, I believe these appointments – taken together with our investment in a new oven to expand Bolingbrook production capacity and the extension of our credit agreement with PMC by an additional year through 12/31/2026 – position us with the potential for a high level of operational execution on our path to profitability," concluded Zimmer.

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