San Francisco Equity Partners Announces Expansion of Operating Partner Network

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--San Francisco Equity Partners (SFEP), a private equity firm focused exclusively on partnering with growth-oriented companies in the consumer sector, announced today the expansion of its operating partner network with the inclusion of several senior CPG executives that bring a broad and diverse set of experience across the consumer products landscape.

With the expansion, SFEP’s operating partner network now includes the following individuals:

• Moiz Ali: Ali was the CEO and founder of Native, the first fully natural, direct-to-consumer deodorant company, and grew the brand to over $100 million in sales and successfully sold a majority stake to P&G.

• Scott Bolonda: Bolonda is a food industry executive with more than 30 years’ experience with major food companies including Nestle, Unilever, JM Smucker and McCormick and Company, where he was President of Zatarain’s and served as US VP of Sales and Marketing. Bolonda currently serves as the CEO of Red Monkey Foods, a leading provider of premium organic spices, seasonings and salt products.

• Maggie Carey: Carey is a veteran of the CPG industry, including an 18-year career at SC Johnson where her tenure included serving as General Manager of natural homecare company Caldrea (Caldrea and Mrs. Meyers brands). Carey also served as Global VP of Brands at Molson Coors. Carey is currently the CEO of Yes To, a leading natural personal care brand.

• Richard T. Conti: Conti is consumer products veteran who served as President and COO of SC Johnson and as Group Vice President at Clorox, where he was responsible for half of Clorox’s operating units. Conti has worked with several private-equity backed consumer businesses and currently serves as the CEO of Japonesque, a provider of beauty tools, accessories and color cosmetics.

• Mike Guanella: Guanella is a food industry veteran having previously served as General Manager of Hormel Foods’ brands Justin’s and Skippy Peanut Butter. He currently serves as the CEO of Brazi Bites, a provider of better-for-you Latin American-inspired frozen foods.

• Jordan Lamberg: Lamberg is an operations expert with 12 years’ experience in personal care and beauty manufacturing. He currently works at Benefit Cosmetics where he leads the quality assurance and process engineering departments and previously served as a Process Engineer at Kolmar Laboratories.

• Michael Larrain: Larrain has over 20 years’ experience in the health and wellness, beauty, and skincare industries, previously serving as the CEO of PCA Skin and as President of L’Oreal’s Active Cosmetics Division.

• Chris Payne: Payne is a 20-year veteran of the beauty industry, having previously served as CMO of PCA Skin, SVP of Global Marketing at Arcade Beauty, VP of Marketing at Clarisonic, and in various senior marketing roles at L’Oreal. Payne is currently the CEO of Jane Iredale, the leading makeup brand in the global professional channel.

“We believe leveraging operational talent in every aspect of the investment process has become even more critical to creating value in the current environment,” said Scott Potter, Managing Partner of SFEP. “The expansion of our operating partner network is a key initiative for our platform and will add value to all areas of our investment process, from thesis development to deal sourcing and most importantly, to creating value through operational involvement with our partner companies.”

“SFEP’s network of operating executives has always been an important part of our investment strategy, and the expansion of the vertical and functional expertise resident in our operating partner relationships will prove invaluable to both our investment team and our partner companies going forward,” added David Mannix, Partner at SFEP.

About San Francisco Equity Partners

San Francisco Equity Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on partnering with growth-oriented companies in the consumer sector. To each of its partner companies, SFEP serves as an extension of the management team and provides both extensive operating experience and a broad network of relationships across the consumer products landscape. For more information please visit www.sfequitypartners.com.