Patrick Hurd
Patrick possesses 23 years of experience in business establishment and product commercialization, with a strong focus on the USA and Canada retail markets. He has managed up to $175M in annual revenue, serving approximately 200,000 stores across all retail channels.
Before co-founding CPG solutions accelerator, Patrick played a significant role in establishing KRETEK offices in Canada and later became the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for KRETEK companies. Under his leadership, KRETEK became a major player in Importation/Distribution, serving mass market retail and independent stores with a diverse portfolio of products, including specialty tobacco and superfoods.
In 2020, Patrick took on a crucial role in the transaction team of Dryft Sciences, LLC, facilitating the sale of DRYFT pouches to British American Tobacco for $150M. During this period, he also managed KRETEK's sales team, which served as the sales arm for DRYFT Sciences, LLC.
DIFFERENCE MAKER & NETWORK BUILDER
Karim Rihan
EXPLORER & MARKETING ACCELERATOR
Karim has 15 years of experience in developing, commercializing, and managing businesses in various environments, including family offices and multinational corporate settings in the USA and North Africa.
Before co-founding CPG solutions accelerator, he served as the Sales & Marketing Director at DRYFT Sciences, LLC, where he played a key role in product and brand development, sales planning, B2B and B2C marketing activities, and M&A processes leading to a $150M transaction.
He later held the title of SVP of Marketing for Total Product Expo and Phillips and King, where he led the digitization of Phillips and King distribution company and developed an online B2B marketplace. Karim's career began in Egypt, working on media planning for Redbull energy drink and British American Tobacco marketing team in North Africa.
The founding team has established a network that can be activated according to partner’s solution requirements .
This network includes local industry experts in North America supported by a network of project based offshore working professionals in North Africa and Asia especially for the creative and admin requirements to offer more affordable and scalable solutions