Arcadia Biosciences Inc. CEO Matt Plavan is stepping down from the Davis-based plant research and wellness brand company later this year as it begins a nationwide search for a new top executive with consumer products experience.
Plavan joined Arcadia (Nasdaq: RKDA) as chief financial officer in 2016 and helped the company transition in recent years from being a science-based biotechnology company to being a consumer product and brand company.
He told the Business Journal that he's stepping down now because, at Arcadia's current stage, it could benefit from a leader with different experience from his own.
“My job is to create shareholder value, and the way to do that is to find someone who has a deep background in consumer packaged goods,” Plavan told the Business Journal.
He said the company is well-positioned to leverage its "innovation-oriented heritage, elevate its brands and further penetrate the consumer health and wellness categories.”
Plavan will step down as CEO once a successor is named, which is expected to occur by the end of the year.
He said he doesn't have current plans following his leadership role.
“My focus is on finding the right person,” he said.
Arcadia was one of the Sacramento region’s fastest-growing companies this year, marking three-year revenue growth of 448.77% for the years 2018 through 2020.
"Matt has deftly led Arcadia through a critical transformational phase, as we transitioned our focus from developing to commercializing a portfolio of specialty wheat ingredients, while, at the same time, acquiring and integrating additional food and wellness brands," Arcadia board Chairman Kevin Comcowich said in a news release. "His talent, energy and dedication — particularly in the face of a global pandemic — have paved the way for significant long-term growth and value creation.”
Plavan started with Arcadia as chief financial officer in 2016, the same year it began its pivot from improving niche plant traits to developing traits for plants with larger markets. He was named CEO in August 2019.
In that time, Arcadia has brought to market consumer products that use its GoodWheat, a high-fiber and high-protein wheat Arcadia developed. The company also developed strains of nationally legal hemp that are uniformly low in THC.
Plavan also presided over several acquisitions, including two this year.
In April, Arcadia acquired the assets of Spanish company Agrasys SA, which developed a hybrid cereal crop that is high in fiber, protein and lutein, and can be used in bread, crackers, pasta and beer.
In May, Arcadia acquired the non-THC portfolio of wellness product brand assets from Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter’s San Jose-based cannabis company TPCO Holding Corp. for $6.16 million.
The TPCO portfolio of products Arcadia acquired includes bath and body brand Soul Spring, body care brand Saavy Naturals, coconut water brand Zola and CBD-infused sports performance products brand Provault.
Some of those products are already distributed to more than 5,000 stores.
Arcadia, meanwhile, has been successful at online marketing of its GoodWheat products, which include pasta that is high in fiber. Plavan, at the time of the TPCO products acquisition, said the CBD products it picked up can easily be marketed online by Arcadia.
The TPCO transaction also got Arcadia a 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chatsworth in Southern California, which is in addition to Arcadia’s 24,000-square-foot headquarters and research laboratory in Davis and a 25,000-square-foot research greenhouse near Woodland.
“We have our heritage in biotechnology, and that is the cornerstone of the products we bring to market,” Plavan said, adding that Arcadia now needs someone leading the company with deep roots in consumer products.
In January, Arcadia raised $25.1 million in a private placement of stock. The company said it would use the proceeds to commercialize its products.
Plavan earned $370,000 in base salary plus $98,500 in incentive pay in 2020, along with stock option awards worth $325,000, for a total estimated compensation at just under $800,000 for 2020. That is up from total potential compensation of $581,000 in 2019.
Prior to joining Arcadia, Plavan was CEO of Rancho Cordova-based Cesca Therapeutics Inc. During his tenure, he was part of the team that transformed Cesca from a manufacturer of medical devices into a regenerative medicine company that used its equipment to create stem cell therapies.
