N!CK'S Appoints Three New Board Members, All Independent Industry Experts

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Nov 08, 2022, 09:00 ET

Global food-tech innovator continues to scale with the additions of Henry Karamanoukian, Rebecca Messina, and Rob Bellezza

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- N!CK'S, the first and ever-popular Swedish-style light ice cream and better-for-you treats brand, is proud to announce the addition of three independent industry experts to their board, Henry Karamanoukian, Rebecca Messina and Rob Bellezza.

Continuing to cement the brand's purpose of empowering people to make better food choices through food innovation, and eliminating the gap between indulgent and healthy, each new member provides elevated insight, talent, and skills to support continued brand expansion.

Henry Karamanoukian retired from Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 2021 after more than 34 years. He was a member of P&G's Global Leadership Council and had leadership roles in several of P&G's major markets across North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He most recently served as President of Digital Commerce, Global and President of Go-To-Market Operations, China. He also led P&G's Canadian Operations and was Chief Sales Officer for North America and Eastern Europe. Today, he continues to share his knowledge as a Senior Advisor for The Boston Consulting Group. Karamanoukian's experience in general management, market operations and enterprise strategy will add value to the N!CK's team. He is primarily focused on assisting the brand's growing global presence, sales strategy and distribution expansion.
Rebecca Messina was Uber's first-ever Global Chief Marketing Officer, where she built a world-class marketing team and elevated marketing as it prepared for its IPO. Previously, she was Global Chief Marketing Officer at Beam Suntory, a global leader in spirits and prior to that she spent an impressive 22 years in marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, holding several roles in North America, Europe, Australia, and South America, including CMO of the internal incubator, Venturing & Emerging Brands. Today, Messina is an advisor for McKinsey & Co. and serves on the Vive Organics, Outdoor Voices & Zico Coconut Water board. With her extensive experience in global brand building and development, Messina will be a welcomed addition as she paves the path toward building a unique, world-leading brand with N!CK'S.
Rob Bellezza is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Curio Wellness. Prior to joining Curio, Rob spent 24 years at Unilever across several key roles within the Supply Chain. Bellezza held roles as the Head of Operations and Manufacturing at Ben & Jerry's and the Head of M&A Integration at Unilever in North America. Bellezza brings both strong functional leadership and a strong belief in bringing purpose and value to each business decision, and leveraging his experience in manufacturing within the ice cream industry. Bellezza's in-depth and varied background will help N!CK'S improve operations worldwide and become a world-leading snacking company. Bellezza will utilize his relevant exposure to the ice cream industry in advising manufacturing and operational decisions.

Each new board member has already started to involve themselves in the N!CK'S brand and business, leaning in on their specific expertise.

"We are very excited to welcome Henry Karamanoukian, Rebecca Messina and Rob Bellezza to the board, who have already proven their impressive leadership skills that will help profitably grow our company, said Stefan Lagerqvist, CEO of N!CK'S. "As independent industry experts, each unique in their way, the entire team at N!CK'S is proud to have attracted this exceptional talent to the board, and we will only grow from here."

With this expanded foundation and enhanced board of diversified talent, N!CK'S is looking forward to bringing their better-for-you snacking treats to the masses, while continuing to eliminate the gap between indulgent and healthy.

About N!CK'S:
Founded in Sweden by Carl Backlund and Niclas Luthman in 2017, N!CK'S has expanded to 16 markets including the US and UK with their "Better For You" snacking treats. With a proprietary blend of sweeteners and exclusive patent protected ingredients, N!CK'S delivers the experience of full fat, full sugar snacks with a fraction of the calories and no added sugar. Additional milestones for the global food-tech innovator of healthy and indulgent snacks and ice cream include becoming the #1 new snack bar release on Amazon and raising $100 million in Series C funding in October 2021.

SOURCE N!CK's