Bowery, the modern farming company, has made two key executive hires to oversee the company’s marketing and sales operations. Katie Seawell (formerly of Starbucks) and Carmela Cugini (formerly of Walmart) have joined Bowery as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer and EVP of Sales, respectively.
The hires are in support of broadening consumer awareness for the brand and increasing retail distribution.
Katie Seawell spent more than a decade at Starbucks Coffee Company, where she held a variety of leadership roles within the marketing and product organizations including driving brand campaigns, developing go-to-market strategies & integrated marketing campaigns and product innovation. Most recently, Katie was SVP of Siren Retail Operations, leading the launches of the Starbucks Reserve Global Roasteries including Starbucks market entry into Italy. In her new role as Chief Marketing Officer, Katie will lead the company’s marketing team, spearheading initiatives to build Bowery’s brand and consumer reach in existing and new markets. Katie will also partner with the agriculture science team to lead Bowery’s innovation strategy, providing insights on consumer produce trends to make sure the company is fulfilling the wants and needs of its consumers.
Carmela Cugini joins Bowery with experience across e-commerce retail, consumer packaged goods, financial planning and sales with organizations including Walmart, Jet.com, PepsiCo and Merrill Lynch. Over the last three years, Carmela was Vice President and General Manager of Walmart’s US e-commerce team, leading online grocery and focusing on accelerating growth strategies across Walmart’s e-commerce and Jet.com.
Prior, Carmela spent 13+ years at PepsiCo and four years at Merrill Lynch, holding key leadership positions across various functions including sales management, sales operations, key account sales, business development, revenue management strategy, marketing and brand development. As EVP of Sales at Bowery, Carmela will take the lead on growing its network of retail partners and distribution channels as Bowery expands into new markets, while educating grocers on the benefits of indoor-grown, pesticide-free produce.
Bowery is the modern farming company growing food for a better future by revolutionizing agriculture. By combining the benefits of the best local farms with advances made possible by technology, Bowery’s indoor farms create the ideal conditions to grow the purest produce imaginable. BoweryOS, the company’s proprietary software system, uses vision systems, automation technology, and machine learning to monitor plants and all the variables that drive their growth 24/7. Bowery controls the entire process from seed to store, and Bowery farms use zero pesticides, 95% less water, and are 100+ times more productive on the same footprint of land than traditional agriculture. Bowery produce is currently available at select Whole Foods and Stop & Shop stores in the Tri-state area; Brooklyn Fare, Westside Market and Foragers Market in NYC; and online through Peapod, AmazonFresh and Jet.com. Additionally, Bowery is featured at sweetgreen, and on the menus of Tom Colicchio’s New York restaurants Craft and Temple Court.
In December 2018, Bowery announced a Series B fundaise of $95 million led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), bringing Bowery’s total funding to $122.5 million. Notable investors in this round include Temasek (the global investment company backing companies leading change for the future of agriculture), Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Uber), Almanac (the fund of David Barber, co-founder of Blue Hill), Jeff Wilke (CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer), Henry Kravis (Co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.), First Round Capital, GGV Capital and General Catalyst.
