BONITA SPRINGS — Innovative Food Holdings named longtime business executives James Pappas and Mark Schmulen to its board of directors.
Publicly traded over-the-counter, Innovative Food Holdings is a specialty food firm that provides chefs and consumers direct access to high-quality unique specialty food products. It did $52.9 million in revenue in 2018. “On behalf of the company’s board of directors, we welcome James and Mark to the board, and we look forward to their advice and counsel as we work together to grow value for all shareholders,” CEO Sam Klepfish says in a statement.
Pappas founded JCP Investment Management in Houston in June 2009 and is the managing member and owner of the firm, the release states. Since 2016 Pappas has served as a director of Tandy Leather Factory, a specialty retailer and wholesale distributor of leather and leather related products. He also previously served on the boards of several public companies, including food-related businesses such as Jamba Inc., The Pantry Inc. and Morgan's Foods Inc.
“As the largest shareholder of IVFH, we are most excited by the company’s significant growth opportunities,” Pappas says in the release. “Sam and his team have assembled a strong platform of specialty food e-commerce and foodservice businesses that combined with a compelling omnichannel strategy are capitalizing on current and future trends within the rapidly growing specialty food industry.”
Schmulen is the CEO of Chirp Systems, a smart access control platform for multifamily property owners. He is also the Manager of Jelly Capital, an investment fund supporting software and e-commerce businesses, the release states.