Bowery Farming (Bowery), the Modern Farming Company, announced today the appointment of Colin Nelson to the newly-created role of Chief Supply Chain Officer. Nelson boasts three decades of experience in end-to-end supply chain management and operations at major multinationals, including Walgreens Boots Alliance, Unilever, and GlaxoSmithKline. He joins Bowery as a member of its executive leadership team and will oversee Bowery’s seed to store operations, including procurement and planning, manufacturing and maintenance, construction and engineering, logistics, and delivery.
“Our growth has been driven by consumer demand for safer and more transparently grown produce, and our ability to provide a consistent and reliable supply to our retail partners,” said Irving Fain, CEO and Founder of Bowery Farming. “Colin’s leadership, values, and extensive experience will be an extremely valuable asset to Bowery as we continue to advance our operational and supply chain efficiencies, and further scale our business to increase access to local, fresh, sustainable healthy food.”
A mechanical engineer by training, Nelson is an accomplished leader with deep experience in end-to-end supply chain management and operations at major companies across the world. Prior to joining Bowery, he was the Senior Vice President and Global Chief Supply Chain Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, where he led supply chain management of retail and wholesale pharmaceuticals and front-end retail. His role included planning, ordering, sourcing and overseeing R&D, and manufacturing for dealer-owned and private label brands. Previously, Nelson held executive supply chain roles at GlaxoSmithKline and Unilever, and served as head of manufacturing at Bunge. Nelson received his BSc in mechanical engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
“I’m impressed by what Bowery is building and how the company is applying innovative technology and human ingenuity to strengthen our food system and help feed a growing urban population in an economically sustainable way,” said Nelson. “I am looking forward to working closely with the incredibly passionate, purpose-driven team to further expand the business and deliver excellent economics through supply chain and operational efficiencies at Bowery.”
Nelson is the most recent among a series of strategic hires for Bowery, which also includes Carmela Cugini, Chief Revenue Officer (formerly Head of Merchandising & Curation at Jet.com and VP and General Manager of Walmart’s US e-commerce team) and Katie Seawell, Chief Marketing Officer (formerly SVP of Product and Marketing for Starbucks). The company has also added two new members to its Board of Directors: Sally Genster Robling (former EVP of Pinnacle Foods and founding President of the $1.1B Birds Eye Division) and Michael Lynton (Chairman of Snap Inc., and former Chairman and Chief Executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment).
About Bowery Farming
Bowery Farming, the Modern Farming Company, was founded in 2015 with the belief that technology and human ingenuity can grow better food for a better future. By building smart indoor farms close to the cities they serve, Bowery creates the optimal conditions to cultivate wildly flavorful Protected Produce that’s available on shelf just a few days after harvest.
Its proprietary software system, the BoweryOS, uses sensors, vision systems, automation technology, robotics, and machine learning to monitor plants and all the variables that drive their growth 24/7. Because Bowery controls the entire process from seed to store, farms grow produce year-round, ensuring a safer supply of food that’s reliable and consistent.
The farms are 100 times more productive on the same footprint of land than traditional agriculture, and grow traceable, pesticide-free produce -- the purest, best expression of what produce is meant to be -- with a fraction of the water.
Bowery currently has three farms: a commercial farm and R&D Center of Excellence, both in Kearny, New Jersey, and a commercial farm in Nottingham, Maryland. The company serves more than 650 stores in the Tri-State area and Mid-Atlantic region, including Whole Foods Market, Giant Food, Stop & Shop, Weis, Walmart, and specialty grocers, along with online partners, such as Amazon Fresh, Hungryroot, and Peapod.
Based in New York City, the company has raised over $172.5 million from leading investors, including Temasek, GV (formerly Google Ventures), General Catalyst, GGV Capital, First Round Capital, Henry Kravis, Jeff Wilke, and Dara Khosrowshahi, as well as some of the foremost thought leaders in food, including Tom Colicchio, José Andres, and David Barber of Blue Hill.
