Matthew Walker, chairman of the board for Hazel Technologies, Inc. announced Parker Booth as the company’s new chief executive officer. Booth was previously Hazel’s chief operating officer, where he had served since 2019. Walker also announced Jeff Leshuk as Hazel’s new chief revenue officer, reporting to Booth. Together, Booth and Leshuk possess a deep level of experience growing and scaling businesses across the fresh produce, postharvest packaging and AgTech industries. Hazel’s previous CEO and co-founder, Aidan Mouat, remains in an advisory capacity.
“Parker’s vision and guidance can help move Hazel beyond the start-up phase to one that’s rooted in real global expansion, adoption and execution. The path Parker is plotting for Hazel is an exciting one,” said Walker, a managing director at S2G Ventures.
Left to right: Parker Booth, Jeff Leshuk
Booth, who also serves as a Hazel Technologies board member, has extensive experience in deploying various shelf-life extension technologies in agricultural markets around the world. His passion lies in scale – driving uptake, putting growth plans into operation and maximizing access by breaking down market barriers. Booth demonstrated this strength while serving as Hazel’s COO, where he oversaw its international market expansion, which included the development of critical production and distribution partnerships. In 2022, Booth led the IP acquisition of a complementary technology that has since become instrumental in revenue growth in the N. America, LATAM and EMEA regions for Hazel.
“In eight years, a breakthrough idea hatched at Northwestern University has become an impactful sustainability solution for many of the world’s biggest food companies,” said Booth. “While it’s easy to marvel at Hazel’s success to date, the company has only scratched the surface of its opportunities globally.”
Reinforcing Booth’s promotion, Hazel’s board chair has appointed Jeff Leshuk as the company’s new CRO. Leshuk comes to Hazel after running Strategic Fresh, LLC, which provided strategy, marketing and business development services to early-stage and large multinationals in the food science and postharvest technology industries.
Concurrent with his consulting practice, Leshuk co-founded Carrisan Technologies. Funded by the USDA and NSF, Carrisan was commercializing an environmentally safe antimicrobial product. Prior to those roles, Leshuk was part of the leadership team at Sensitech, a provider of cold chain visibility services. Serving a variety of roles, Leshuk helped guide Sensitech from a scrappy start-up to a successful exit. Sensitech was acquired by United Technologies Corporation in 2006 and experienced further growth after the acquisition.
“Hazel’s drop-in solution is built for global food supply chains as they currently exist. It requires no additional capital investment, technology or training,” said Leshuk. “These critical advantages pave the way for rapid expansion.”
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