Natural foods industry veteran Ben Mand has been appointed chief executive officer of Harmless Harvest, a leader in U.S. refrigerated premium coconut water.
 
Mr. Mand joins Harmless Harvest with over 16 years of industry and leadership experience and an outstanding track record of growing and building responsible brands at CPG businesses with an emphasis on mission-driven leadership. He was instrumental in the phenomenal growth of Plum Organics, a leading provider of premium, organic foods and snacks for babies, toddlers and children. As Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing and Innovation, Mr. Mand was responsible for helping to build Plum’s vision and products and helped oversee the successful execution of the brand’s growth strategy. Prior to joining Plum, Mr. Mand worked in various marketing and innovation roles, including most recently at General Mills and Johnson & Johnson.
 
“Ben exemplifies the rare type of leader that will take Harmless Harvest to the next level of performance as a pioneering, sustainable and ethical food company as well as expanding Harmless’ unique vision to a broader audience,” said Co-Founder Justin Guilbert.
 
Co-founder Douglas Riboud added, “Ben combines two rare traits: passionate creativity with a commitment to hard work in achieving goals. Along with the rest of Harmless Harvest, Justin and I are grateful to have a leader of Ben’s caliber. We look forward to benefitting from his experience and collaboration as we achieve our objectives as a values-based enterprise.”
 
“I am thrilled to join the Harmless Harvest team and support our mission to benefit all of our stakeholders from the soil and farmers in Thailand that help produce our nutritious, organic products to the people who drink it,” said Mr. Mand. “Harmless Harvest is a flagship brand because of its powerful vision and commitment to its stakeholders and the environment. As a fan from day one of this pioneer, I was humbled to be offered this exceptional role and can’t wait to work with this great team to develop Harmless Harvest’s full potential in the years to come.”
 
Laurent Marcel, managing director of Danone Manifesto Ventures and a member of the Harmless Harvest Board of Directors, commented, “We cut no corners in identifying the right candidate to lead Harmless Harvest forward. After careful consideration, we unanimously determined that Ben is the ideal person for the role with a wealth of expertise and a successful track-record of launching and growing innovative, mission-driven and sustainable brands. Importantly, Ben embodies the unique DNA of Harmless Harvest and we are confident that he will help this one-of-a-kind company reach its ambitious goals.”