Durham, N.C. – November 29, 2022 – Pairwise, a purpose-driven food tech company that uses gene editing to develop new varieties of fruits and vegetables, today announced the addition of its second independent board member, Harry Overly.
Overly currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Flagstone Foods, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of private label snacks in North America. A portfolio company of Atlas Holdings, LLC., Flagstone is a leading supplier of innovative, premier snack mixes, mixed nuts and dried fruit products. Overly also serves as a Board Member of Flagstone Foods.
In addition to his role at Flagstone Foods, Overly serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board at Sun-Maid Growers of California where he served as President & Chief Executive Officer for five years. He is best known throughout his 20-year career as a visionary, leading new product innovation for the category-leading food brands for which he has worked, with significant executive-level experience in marketing, sales, and strategy.
The addition of Overly to the Pairwise Board of Directors is timely, as his diverse leadership and expertise in introducing and managing healthy food brands and products will inform the launch of Conscious™ Greens, a portfolio of new varieties of colorful, nutrient-dense salad greens coming to the U.S. market in 2023.
“I am thrilled to join the Pairwise board at this critical time in the run-up to the launch of the company’s first product, Conscious Greens,” Overly said. “The work that Pairwise is doing under its consumer brand, Conscious Foods will change consumers’ relationship with healthy eating,” he said.
“Harry’s experience leading organizations focused on delivering innovative healthy snacking and fruit products is key to our goal of bringing healthier snacking options to consumers,” said Tom Adams, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Pairwise. “Harry’s strategic and operational leadership in the snacking industry will be key to our company’s success,” Adams said.
Prior to joining Sun-Maid, Overly was the CEO of North America for Deoleo, the seller of the world’s largest olive oil brands, best known in the US for Bertolli Olive Oil. Before leading Deoleo’s business, Harry was the Chief Customer Officer of TreeHouse Foods, the largest private label-focused food manufacturer in the US with sales of approximately $7B. Before TreeHouse, Harry held several positions within marketing, sales, and product innovation within Kraft Foods, The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co, and BestSweet, Inc.
In February 2021, Pairwise raised $90 million in a successful series B funding round, bringing total fundraising to $115 million when combined with the series A funding round. Additionally, Pairwise has a $100 million, five-year collaboration with Bayer Crop Science to advance gene editing tools in row crops. Pairwise is currently developing new types of leafy greens, berries, and cherries. In four years, the company has grown to over 150 employees with additional anticipated growth in 2023 as the company enters retail and food service.
About Pairwise and Conscious™ Foods
Driven by the belief that healthy food should be consistently fresh, delicious, and convenient, Conscious™ Foods is a flagship brand under Pairwise, a mission-driven company that is building a healthier world through better fruits and vegetables. Pairwise brings together leaders in agriculture, technology, and consumer foods to harness the transformative potential of new genomics technologies to create innovative new products. Pairwise is working to develop new varieties of crops, and to partner with organizations that seek to drive innovation across the plant-based economy. Pairwise was founded by Chief Executive Officer Tom Adams and Chief Business Officer Haven Baker, with scientific co-founders J. Keith Joung, Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School; David Liu, Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare and Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; and Feng Zhang, McGovern Investigator and a professor at MIT. For more information visit https://www.pairwise.com. For more information on Conscious Foods visit ConsciousFoods.net.