Alter Eco, a chocolate-centric, sustainability-directed snack company, has named Mike Forbes as chief executive officer.
Forbes will assume day-to-day leadership of the company and will join Alter Eco’s Board of Directors. A 12-year veteran in the natural products industry and core member of One Step Closer to an Organic Sustainable Community (OSC²), Forbes was tapped for his expertise and leadership in scaling CPG businesses while maintaining a brand’s core mission and values.
Alter Eco former co-CEOs, Edouard Rollet and Mathieu Senard, will remain as co-founders but are shifting their focus to establishing the Alter Eco Foundation, a non-profit vehicle for social and environmental change set to launch in 2019.
“I’m truly honored to join the Alter Eco team,” Forbes said. “I am a huge fan of the Alter Eco products and a long-admirer of the brand’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. I am excited to play an active role in fortifying its channel and portfolio growth.”
Prior to joining Alter Eco, Forbes served as executive v.p. and general manager at California Olive Ranch, a brand he helped grow from $7 million to over $125 million. There he led a team of about 50 employees across operations, sales and marketing departments and played an instrumental role expanding national distribution, overseeing investments and the acquisition of Lucini Italia. Earlier in his career, Forbes served in marketing roles at General Mills and Procter & Gamble.
“Mike has been a long-time friend through our mutual relationship with OSC², so when the opportunity to bring him on board presented itself, we knew it was the right fit,” Rollet said.
Senard added: “This is a seamless transition of leadership that allows Edouard and me to continue expanding upon the original reason we founded Alter Eco — to bring delicious, healthy food to market, catalyzing impact around what we call full circle sustainability: social justice, environmental stewardship, climate change alleviation and sustainable packaging.”
In addition to Forbes, Alter Eco has strengthened its executive team with the addition of Eric Lallart as v.p. of operations and Robin Ynes as v.p. of finance. With nearly two decades of operations experience, Lallart has supported growth and increased bottom line sales for global food giants like Devondale Murray Goulburn and Danone. With more than 10 years of experience in the natural products industry and 20 years leading financial organizations at best-in-class consumer products and distribution companies, Ynes previously held positions at Coca-Cola/Odwalla, Zola Beverage and Core-Mark Distributors.
