Baby Gourmet Appoints New CEO, Michael D. Watt

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Dec 6, 2012) - The Board of Directors of Baby Gourmet Foods Inc announces that effective today Michael D. Watt has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation. Michael will also join the board of directors of Baby Gourmet.

A 20-year veteran of the consumer packaged goods industry, Michael was most recently the Vice-President and General Manager for Mars/Wrigley, Inc., U.S. Candy Confections Division, and had full P&L responsibility for the $850M US candy division of Skittles, Starburst and Life Savers brands. During the recent Mars acquisition of Wrigley, he was also appointed by Bill Wrigley Jr. to be the Global Mars/Wrigley Integration Leader for the $1B integration of the Global Candy brands: Skittles, Starburst, Tunes, Lockets, Rondo and Lucas, across over 50 countries. 

Michael has extensive experience in strategy, operational planning and execution, brand management and developing high performing cultures. He has successfully led international divisions of food conglomerates in both North America and Asia Pacific, and has consistently achieved top- and bottom-line results in highly competitive categories, driven by insights and innovation that delivered meaningful consumer benefits. 

"Baby Gourmet was founded by two moms who wanted great tasting, nutritious food for their children and two years later, they still taste every batch! As a parent, this is the type of company I support and wanted to be a part of," says Michael Watt. "Baby Gourmet has so much future potential and I look forward to working with our great team and retail partners, to delight babies, kids and parents for years to come."

Michael along with Jen Carlson and Jill Vos -- founders and visionaries of Baby Gourmet -- will lead Baby Gourmet into the next phase of its expansion in Canada, United States and abroad. Jen and Jill will continue to be the product and market innovators as well as overseeing the integrity of the Baby Gourmet Inc. brand. The Board would also like to thank Sean Durfy for assuming the interim role as CEO and structuring short-term objectives for the corporation. He will now fulfill the role as Baby Gourmet's Executive Chairman.

"Baby Gourmet is entering an important phase of its transition. We are growing from being a very successful Canadian innovator in the baby food market to an internationally recognized provider of tasty, healthy, organic gourmet foods for babies, infants and also pre-teen kids. Building from the success of the founders, we have been able to attract highly skilled senior management and board members," says Baby Gourmet Executive Chairman Sean Durfy. "We thank our customers, staff, retailers and suppliers for their loyalty in helping us achieve this success," Durfy says. 

Baby Gourmet® is the first-to-market and leading pouched, organic baby food in Canada. It is found where 80% of all baby food is sold in Canada, including two major retail chains: Walmart and Loblaws. Baby Gourmet has also recently launched into the kids snacking category under the Kids Gourmet brand. The product is called Squoosh and is the first organic fruit and veggie snack available for kids, across 4 great varieties. Baby Gourmet is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

For more information please visit www.babygourmet.com

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Corporation's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in manufacturer and producers of food products. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.