Nudie CEO James Ajaka is leaving the business, six months after selling the juice company to international company Monde Nissin.
Ajaka has been CEO for the last six years and was also Nudie's first employee and part of the startup team in 2003. He featured in the 2013 issue of the AdNews Annual.
He will step down on 31 July, handing the running of the Sydney-based operation to GM of sales and brand Richard Glenn and GM of operations Warren Douglas. Both will report to Chris O’Sullivan CEO of Monde Nissin Australia.
Nudie was sold to Nissin in February with an eye on taking the brand international.
In the last year, Nudie has launched a raft of new products including Coconut Water and fruit soda. It also ramped up marketing spend and launched its first TV ads.
In a statement, Ajaka said: “It has been an amazing journey and one that I am personally very proud of; from launching the brand from scratch to becoming a leading beverage brand in Australia.”
“I want to especially thank the team at Nudie (past and present). They are a fun, smart and hard working team of people that I find truly inspirational. We have had a great time together whilst never wavering in focus, this has allowed us to climb some enormous mountains and create a brand, business and set of products that we are all very proud of.”
UPDATE: This article was amended. It originally incorrectly stated Ajaka was the founder of Nudie Juice. He was part of the startup team, but the brand was ultimately founded by Tim Pethick, Andrew Binetter and David Gordan.
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