AppHarvest Inc. has named a new CEO and chairman of the board.
Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest, a sustainable food company that operates indoor farms in Morehead, Berea, Richmond and Somerset, Kentucky, named Tony Martin as its chief executive officer. Martin had been the company's chief operating officer and is a veteran of the controlled environment agriculture business and aims to accelerate the company's strategic plan, called Project New Leaf, according to a news release.
The release said that plan has shown strong progress toward operational efficiencies resulting in higher sales, cost savings and product quality as the company works to increase production across its four-farm network.
He replaces founder Jonathan Webb, who has served as CEO and will become chief strategy officer.
Martin has served as an AppHarvest board member since October 2022 and as COO since January of this year. He joined AppHarvest following a nearly 12-year career with Windset Farms, one of the largest controlled environment agriculture (CEA) producers and marketers of indoor-grown crops in North America with more than 250 acres in the U.S. and Canada.
At Windset, he supported significant infrastructure and revenue growth. Martin has served as a consultant in the CEA sector and is a board member of the Fruit & Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corp., a nonprofit that sets standards for the trade of fresh fruits and vegetables in Canada.
He also serves on the board of Natureripe Farms, the second largest strawberry producer in North America, and is a partner in GA Partners, which consults on agricultural operations and assisting businesses in transition.
The news coming out of AppHarvest has been turbulent, of late.
We reported Tuesday that the company was in a lease dispute with exclusive distributor, Mastronardi Produce. As we reported in December, AppHarvest (Nasdaq: APPH) sold its 15-acre Berea, Kentucky, farm to Mastronardi Berea LLC, a joint venture between Mastronardi Produce and COFRA Holding, for $127 million.
The lease dispute comes roughly a month after AppHarvest disclosed one of its creditors, Equilibrium Sustainable Foods LLC, is seeking the immediate repayment of a $66.7 million loan that was used to construct AppHarvest's 60-acre tomato farm in Richmond, Kentucky.
Its revenue has been growing, but still AppHarvest is anticipating a loss of $67 million to $76 million for 2023.
Thursday's news release says Martin’s Project New Leaf strategic plan focuses on improving labor efficiency, better leveraging industry relationships and expertise, implementing disciplined cost control, improving the feedback loop across the organization and aligning the workforce to the five-year plan.
“I’m seeing a maturity building in the organization to better manage issues and to mitigate any material impact from challenges," Martin said in the release. "We’re working more collaboratively, which is delivering cost savings and driving product quality. The mission and purpose behind AppHarvest have brought a tremendous amount of talent to the team, and I expect to see more operational efficiencies leading to increased performance throughout the year.”
Kevin Willis, who has served on the AppHarvest board since February of 2022, will assume the position of board chair. Willis currently serves as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Deleware-based chemicals company Ashland (NYSE: ASH).
“I founded AppHarvest based on a mission to improve domestic food security by farming more sustainably with climate-resilient practices while providing economic opportunity in Central Appalachia,” said Webb, the founder. “Thanks to the AppHarvest team and the tenacity of the people of Kentucky, we undertook the largest simultaneous buildout of CEA infrastructure in U.S. history and worked to put the region on the map as a hub for AgTech drawing more CEA investment to the state. While I will continue to support the company, I am confident that Tony’s leadership, extensive background in CEA and track record for optimizing revenue growth will provide the guidance the company needs at this inflection point.”
