Harmless Harvest Builds Upon Remarkable Company Success by Hiring Giannella Alvarez as CEO and Brad Paris as COO

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Harmless Harvest, manufacturer of critically and commercially acclaimed
Harmless Coconut® Water, announced today that Giannella Alvarez will be
joining the company as the new CEO and that Brad Paris will take on the
newly created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO), beginning Sept.
21, 2015.

“Over the past five years, our company has grown exponentially without
compromising on our vision for better food from better sources for all,”
says Harmless Harvest co-founder Douglas Riboud. “As beverage industry
pioneers from high pressure processing (HPP) to integrated sourcing,
champions of organic farming and progressive social practices, we have
benefited from an astounding vote of confidence from our customers,
retailers and distributors: we are now selling a bottle of our unique
organic, fair for life Harmless Coconut® Water every second and have
created 350 full-time jobs in the U.S. and Thailand. To continue on our
exceptional path in the years ahead, we sought out the most innovative
and talented leaders in our industry. After many months of searching, we
are proud and humbled to have Giannella and Brad, the best and
brightest, joining our team.”

“What the company needs, as we prepare for the years of growth ahead,
are established, experienced leaders to bring Harmless Harvest to its
next level of achievement. Individuals that share our deep rooted ethos,
a personal commitment to contributing to positive change in our society
and a radically innovative agenda that places long term human and
environmental concerns ahead of near-sighted profits,” says co-founder
Justin Guilbert.

As co-founders, they state that their emotional attachment to this
venture cannot trump the needs of the company as it continues on its
outstanding path. While their commitment and strategy remains intact
they acknowledge that their ambitions will only be fulfilled with an
extraordinary team leading the flourishing organization.

“Both Giannella and Brad share our passion for how and what we feed
ourselves,” explains Guilbert. “We are determined to see Harmless
Harvest grow way beyond our personal ambitions and are excited to move
forward with them into this new chapter. While we will remain actively
involved in the company, we wished to pass on the executive leadership
to proven and respected experts to help achieve our goal to grow our
role as progressive, positive change leaders in the food and beverage
industry.”

Giannella Alvarez most recently held the position of Executive Vice
President and General Manager responsible for the $2.4 billion Pet
Business at Del Monte Foods, which included the iconic Milk Bone and
Natural Balance brands. Prior to this role, Alvarez was the Group
President and CEO for Barilla Americas. She was responsible for the
turnaround of the Barilla business in the U.S., entering the prepared
meals category, and leading the business expansion in Brazil and Mexico.
From 2006 to 2010, Alvarez excelled as the Global Vice President &
General Manager for the Active Lifestyle portfolio at The Coca-Cola
Company, where she co-led the acquisition, as well as the global
expansion of Vitaminwater and Smartwater into 25 countries. At
Coca-Cola, Alvarez was also Global Vice-President for the Hydration,
Sports, Energy and New Beverages businesses, which included Dasani and
Powerade. Earlier in her career, Alvarez held many executive leadership
positions at both Kimberly Clark Corporation and Procter & Gamble in
general management, marketing, innovation and finance.

Alvarez currently serves as a Director of the Board at sustainable paper
company Domtar Corporation (NYSE:UFS). Alvarez is an active member of
the International Women’s Forum (IWF) and Women Corporate Directors
(WCD). She has served on the boards for the not-for-profit organizations
Water.org and Hands on Atlanta. Alvarez earned a Chemical Engineering
degree from Universidad Simon Bolivar, in Caracas, Venezuela.

“I am very excited to be part of Harmless Harvest, and join Douglas and
Justin in their mission of bringing healthier, delicious products to
people, while conducting business through constructive capitalism
principles unparalleled in the industry, by helping to significantly
better the lives of everyone in the supply chain,” says Alvarez.

Brad Paris is a pioneer in the premium health food and beverage
industry. Most recently, Paris served as interim CFO/COO for POM
Wonderful, the world’s largest pomegranate grower. Prior to his role
with POM, he was President of startup frozen food venture, Wild Veggie,
an entity of the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company. At Wild Veggie, Paris
was responsible for the company’s new product development and launches,
as well as production, ingredient sourcing, marketing, and sales. From
2004-2013, he led the produce and nutraceutical businesses for POM
Wonderful as Vice President/General Manager, where he had overall P&L
responsibility for the company’s fresh fruit and nutraceutical
ingredient product lines with sales to over 50 countries. Previous roles
also include working as a management consultant for Roll Global (now
called The Wonderful Company) and Accenture. Paris earned his
undergraduate degree from Duke University in Civil & Environmental
Engineering and received an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at
Northwestern University.

“Opportunities to develop amazing products and do good in the world at
the same time don’t come along very often, and I am thrilled to join
Douglas, Justin, and the entire Harmless Harvest team in creating
healthy, honest, and innovative products while maintaining the company’s
commitment to being socially, environmentally, and ethically
responsible,” says Paris.

About Harmless Harvest

Founded in 2009 by Douglas Riboud and Justin Guilbert, Harmless Harvest
is a progressive food and beverage company set on demonstrating that an
ecosystem-based business model can and should be how food is made. By
combining innovative scientific methods with local traditional
knowledge, Harmless Harvest integrates the long-term welfare of all its
stakeholders – from plant to customer – in the creation of better
products for all. For more information, visit www.harmlessharvest.com.

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