RE:Just A Little Curious About The Back-Story On This Just guess-work on my part, but he was with Valens just over a year, I think he was hired at the beginning of 2020. I think his previous background was largely in vape products. I can understand why, a year ago, Valens would have been looking for someone with vape experience to help establish a production capability, but now they're pretty much a commodity item. During this guy's tenure with Valens, the company had a significant problem with the 1g Verse Tropic Lemon vape pens clogging up. This caused some very bad reviews on reddit. Here's a note I saw from Valens to a Verse customer:
"We are very sorry you have experienced this issue with your 1g Verse Cannabis vape cartridge. We know you have been in touch with Verse's customer care department; however, we also wanted to reach out as the LP for this product and let you know that we have taken serious consideration of this feedback and are substituting CCELL® technology in our current and future productions of the Verse 1g cartridge and are in the process of getting them into the marketplace now. We thank you for providing this feedback and welcome you to please reach out to us with any additional comments at any time."
So that can't have reflected well on this dude if he was hired to help establish the production and marketing of vape cartridges.
Valens is now focussed on many new products in the areas of edibles, beverages, and health and wellness products, if the guy was more of a vape pen executive, probably development of these products isn't his area of expertise.
Another point, Valens has 2 new senior exec's starting next Monday. Is the timing of his departure just as these new guys start a coincidence? Don't know.
Overall, I'd guess that Valens let the guy go. That problem with the Tropic Lemon cart's was a blot on his record. The company has new leadership from Lyf and Green Roads, plus 2 new high-powered exec's, and vapes are yesterday's news. Anyway, that's my quick guesswork.
tidewatertrader wrote: Organigram Appoints Vice President of Innovation
MONCTON, New Brunswick -- (Business Wire) - May 10, 2021
Organigram Holdings Inc. (“Organigram” or the “Company”) (TSX: OGI) (NASDAQ: OGI), the parent company of Organigram Inc., a leading producer of cannabis, is pleased to announce the appointment of Borna Zlamalik as the Company’s Vice President of Innovation. Mr. Zlamalik will assume his new
role effective today.
In his new role, Mr. Zlamalik will draw upon his international expertise in cannabis and cannabinoid-based product advancement, commercialization, and pricing strategy to direct consumer product innovation. As the Company’s Vice President, Innovation, Mr. Zlamalik will oversee all R&D and
product development. He will also sit as one of Organigram’s representatives on the Steering Committee for the recently announced Center of Excellence.
Mr. Zlamalik is an accomplished consumer packaged goods marketer, most recently serving as Vice President, Marketing & Communications, for The Valens Company. In that role, he focused on recreational, health and wellness, therapeutic and medical product development and brand marketing.
Mr. Zlamalik has also held senior roles as Scientific Regulatory Affairs Director and Director of Global Strategy and Innovation at JT International SA and Head of Marketing at JTI Macdonald Corp. His distinguished career as a senior advertising executive has included supporting the creative success of brands such as BMW Group Canada, Bacardi, Coors Light and Fujifilm, among others.
“As we continue to expand our product portfolio and foster new, industry-leading partnerships, Borna’s focus on growth and innovation, along with his experience with speed to market management, will be a tremendous addition to the Company’s leadership team,” says Peter Amirault, executive chair, Organigram.