Essence Investment Appoints Rico Uesluek as Marry Jane AG CEO

ZUG, Switzerland, April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Essence Investment AG ("Essence" or the "Company"), a leading Swiss holding Company investing in the growth of the European cannabis industry, announces the appointment of Rico Uesluek as Chief Executive Officer of its portfolio company, Marry Jane AG ("MJ"). Mr. Uesluek will assume the role on 1 April and will be joined by Christoph Tepr as MJ's new Vice President of Sales.

The appointments of two noted consumer product veterans to MJ's leadership team come as the liberalization of Europe's cannabis markets gains momentum. Already operating at cashflow positive, MJ's sophisticated cultivation and manufacturing facility in Breitenbach, Switzerland, is an exceptionally competitive platform which builds high-quality branded offerings featuring a range of rich terpene and cannabis profiles.

Afrim Saliu, the entrepreneurial and engineering leader who pioneered MJ's development, welcomed his new colleagues, "Rico's track record speaks to his exceptional competence at executing and driving sustainable growth while building high-performing teams. Both Rico and Chris inspire deep trust in partners and bring us a passionate commitment to customers that will be the hallmark of the Marry Jane brand."

Mr. Uesluek joins MJ from Munich's Whacky Food Company, a superfood start-up he founded following a combined thirteen years of experience in senior leadership positions with Logitech and Coca-Cola. Prior to his move to MJ, Mr. Tepr was Juul's Senior Sales Director for EMEA, a position that capitalized on a career that featured multiple roles with Philip Morris.

"We are thrilled to bring together this kind of leadership," said Henricus J. Stander III, a Member of the Board of Directors of Essence. "The developmental and operational successes of the MJ team mark Afrim Saliu and his brother Kujtim Saliu as stand-out talents in the global cannabis industry. Adding the demonstrated skills in brand-building, distribution and marketing that Rico and Chris bring, MJ could not be better-positioned for the consumer-led growth we see in European markets."

Essence Investment AG is a Swiss holding Company dedicated to providing the highest quality cannabis products to European patients and consumers. Its principal investments are Marry Jane AG, based in Breitenbach and the largest indoor producer of premium CBD flowers in Europe (circa 15 tonnes in 2022); Swiss Extract AG, a greenhouse cultivator and BioSuisse-certified producer of premium cannabis extracts for its own brand and white-label supplier to a number of European CBD companies and; AMP Alternative Medical Products GmbH, a licensed importer and distributor of European Union – Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) medical cannabis to Germany's leading cannabis-dispensing pharmacies.

For more information, visit: www.essence-investment.ch 

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SOURCE Essence Investment AG