Fabrega brings deep commercial and retail
experience as former Freshly CEO and Amazon commerce
executive
Current Co-CEOs Craig
Hurlbert and Travis Joyner to
remain with the Company in leadership roles
HAMILTON, Mont., May 25, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Local Bounti Corporation (NYSE: LOCL, LOCL WS)
("Local Bounti" or the "Company"), a breakthrough U.S. indoor
agriculture company combining the best aspects of vertical and
greenhouse growing technologies, announced that Anna Fabrega, former Freshly CEO and Amazon
executive, will become CEO of Local Bounti on June 5, 2023. The company's current Co-CEOs and
Co-Founders – Craig Hurlbert and
Travis Joyner – will shift to new
leadership roles as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Chief
Technology Officer, respectively, and maintain their seats on the
Company's Board of Directors.
Fabrega brings more than two decades of operations, consumer
goods, and food production experience – and a track record of
leading and scaling businesses – to Local Bounti. At Freshly, the
direct-to-consumer fresh prepared food subscription service,
Fabrega succeeded the company's founder as CEO. She led the rollout
of new product lines to meet customer demand. Prior to Freshly,
Fabrega spent nearly a decade at Amazon, most recently leading and
scaling Amazon Go – the company's 'Just Walk Out' convenience
stores and Amazon Kitchen, Amazon's private label fresh prepared
foods operation – to dozens of locations across the U.S. Before
joining Amazon Go's founding team, Fabrega held leadership roles
within Amazon, including overseeing the company's Sports and
Outdoors ecommerce business. She has also led large-scale
initiatives at Microsoft and Stripes Convenience Stores.
Fabrega serves on the board of APEI (Nasdaq: APEI), a for-profit
higher education provider, and is on the board of trustees for the
Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta,
Georgia.
"We started Local Bounti with a vision to help solve global food
shortages through a thoughtful and capital efficient approach that
maximizes our unit-level economics through efficiencies driven by
our Stack & Flow Technology," Local Bounti Co-CEO Craig Hurlbert said. "With Anna as our new CEO,
we are poised to expand our reach as we execute on our growth
strategy."
"We are thrilled for Anna to join Local Bounti as our new
CEO. Her depth in the retail sector and direct experience
scaling up operations is a perfect fit for our business," Local
Bounti Co-CEO Travis Joyner said.
"Anna has a keen understanding of how to execute in this
operation's intensive and technologically complex environment, and
we look forward to taking Local Bounti's product offering to the
next level."
"I grew up in agriculture – my dad still runs a farm in
Panama where he grows teak and
coffee – and I believe food should be as local and sustainable as
possible. Local Bounti represents the most innovative and promising
approach to getting customers fresh, high-quality, flavorful food
from our farms to store shelves," Fabrega said. "Craig and Travis
have created a best-in-class model for sustainable agriculture. I
see a huge opportunity for Local Bounti to expand its customer base
and enhance penetration by offering more products in more locations
– and do so in a way that's better for the planet."
Hurlbert and Joyner co-founded Local Bounti in 2018 in
Hamilton, Montana. Local Bounti
uses its patent pending Stack & Flow TechnologyTM to
grow healthy food in an environmentally sustainable manner that
increases harvest efficiency, limits water usage, relies on minimal
pesticides, and reduces the carbon footprint of the production and
distribution process. Local Bounti's indoor farming methods are
better for the planet, using 90% less land and 90% less water than
conventional farming methods.
The U.S. market for fruit and vegetables has an estimated total
addressable market of $75 billion by
2025, according to a report published by S2G Ventures. Today, Local
Bounti distributes food to more than 10,000 retail locations across
35 U.S. states and Canadian provinces with nationally-recognized
retailers. And Local Bounti is growing, with the current expansion
of its Georgia facility and
additional facilities under construction in Texas and Washington. The Company produces more than 25
stock keeping units (SKUs), with a focus on lettuce, packaged
salad, and cress; and it plans to expand into more SKUs and
geographies.
About Local Bounti
Local Bounti is redefining indoor farming with an innovative
method – its proprietary Stack & Flow Technology™ – that
significantly improves crop turns, increases output and improves
unit economics. Local Bounti operates advanced indoor growing
facilities across the United
States, servicing over 10,000 retail doors with its two
brands: Local Bounti® and Pete's®. Local Bounti grows healthy food
utilizing a hybrid approach that integrates the best attributes of
controlled environment agriculture with natural elements. Local
Bounti's sustainable growing methods are better for the planet,
using 90% less land and 90% less water than conventional farming
methods. With a mission to 'bring our farm to your kitchen in the
fewest food miles possible,' Local Bounti's food is fresher, more
nutritious, and lasts longer than traditional agriculture. To find
out more, visit localbounti.com or follow Local Bounti on LinkedIn
for the latest news and developments.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases,
you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of
terms such as "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "continue,"
"estimate," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "seek," "should,"
"target," "will," or similar expressions, and variations or
negatives of these words, but the absence of these words does not
mean that a statement is not forward-looking. All statements other
than statements of historical fact are statements that could be
deemed forward-looking statements: including, but not limited to:
development of technology and projections of market opportunity and
market share. These forward-looking statements are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or
achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied
in this press release. The following factors, among others, could
cause actual results to differ materially from those described in
these forward-looking statements: Local Bounti's ability to
generate significant revenue; the risk that Local Bounti may never
achieve or sustain profitability; the risk that Local Bounti could
fail to effectively manage its future growth; the risk that Local
Bounti will fail to obtain additional necessary capital when needed
on acceptable terms or at all; Local Bounti's ability to complete
the build out of its current or additional facilities in the
future; Local Bounti's reliance on third parties for construction,
the risk of delays relating to material delivery and supply chains,
and fluctuating material prices; Local Bounti's ability to scale
its operations and decrease its cost of goods sold over time; the
potential for damage to or problems with Local Bounti's CEA
facilities; the impact that current or future acquisitions,
investments or expansions of scope of existing relationships have
on Local Bounti's business, financial condition, and results of
operations; unknown liabilities that may be assumed in
acquisitions; restrictions contained in Local Bounti's debt
facility agreements with Cargill Financial Services International,
Inc.; Local Bounti's ability to attract and retain qualified
employees; Local Bounti's ability to develop and maintain its brand
or brands; Local Bounti's ability to achieve its sustainability
goals; Local Bounti's ability to maintain its company culture or
focus on its vision as it grows; Local Bounti's ability to execute
on its growth strategy; the risk of diseases and pests destroying
crops; Local Bounti's ability to compete successfully in the highly
competitive natural food market; Local Bounti's ability to defend
itself against intellectual property infringement claims; Local
Bounti's ability to effectively integrate the acquired operations
of any CEA or similar operations which it acquires into its
existing operations; changes in consumer preferences, perception,
and spending habits in the food industry; the risk that seasonality
may adversely impact Local Bounti's results of operations; Local
Bounti's ability to repay, refinance, restructure, or extend its
indebtedness as it comes due; Local Bounti's ability to comply with
the continued listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange;
and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time,
including those under "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking
Statements" in Local Bounti's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2022, filed
with the SEC on March 31, 2023, as
supplemented by other reports and documents Local Bounti files from
time to time with the SEC. Local Bounti cautions that the foregoing
list of factors is not exclusive and cautions readers not to place
undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date hereof. Local Bounti does not undertake or
accept any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any
forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its
expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances
on which any such statement is based.
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SOURCE Local Bounti