It’s been a big year for Greg Fleishman. Last June, the former Kashi, Kellogg's and Coca-Cola marketing and general management executive left what he’d called a dream job – heading up marketing and strategy at acai based food and beverage company Sambazon – for another dream, starting his own venture studio, Purely Righteous Brands.
Then, almost as quickly as he’d begun, Suja, Purely Righteous’ first client, quickly took precedence, and the opportunity to help that company, which has been featured in Forbes as the country’s most promising food and beverage company, sucked up all of his availability, effectively turning the emerging consultancy into a into a full-time position.
After a remarkable stretch in-house, however – one that culminated in Suja being named supplier of the year at Whole Foods – Fleishman is returning to the consultancy, one that partner and longtime friend Andrew Aussie incubated during his absence.
Working with Aussie, a former colleague from Kashi, Fleishman said he plans to work with sustainable health food and beverage companies, refining strategic and marketing approaches.
Fleishman, who had been named Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer for Suja, will continue to consult for the company as it searches for a new marketing chief, according to CEO Jeff Church, who praised Fleishman and said he had nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him.
“Greg recently announced to me that he would like to transition back to the consulting business he started prior to joining us full time,” Church told BevNET. “He feels like he has accomplished a primary goal of helping me build out our strategic business framework, sales plan and the innovation pipeline for Suja and that since there is a lull now in the action it makes for a good time to transition. In the meantime, Suja will be a client so we can continue to tap into his expertise and assist with our next growth phase. Since Greg bleeds purple, he will always be a passionate champion of our brand and our opportunities.
“According to Fleishman, Purely Righteous will help brands achieve scale without compromising their founding values; current areas include snacking for kids, the area that Fleishman calls “purposeful indulgence” and super-functional beverages.
Along with Suja, Purely Righteous’ clients include Madecasse, a brand of socially-conscious chocolate, imported from Madagascar, that recently finished a round of financing with CircleUp; ancient grain-based snack brand Earnest Eats, which Aussie helped start; frozen treat company Arctic Zero; Once Upon a Farm with actress Jennifer Garner, GT's Kombucha, REBBL Beverages, Nuun Hydration, and even Kashi.
Fleishman and Aussie will be working with several other former employees who cut their teeth at Kashi, the seminal natural foods brand that was purchased by Kellogg Co. in 2000.
“There’s an art and science to building green passion brands to scale,” Fleishman said. “We endeavor to help these companies minimize trial and error as they grow so they can focus their energy on stellar game planning and frustration-free execution.”
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