Kalahari Biltong, a meat-based snack brand in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a new company CEO.
Chris Hickey will work in tandem with the company’s three co-founders to accelerate the growth of the brand and add value to the team culture. Hickey will leverage his extensive industry background and resources to manage key relationships with stakeholders, retailers and brand partners as the business grows and scales.
Hickey joins Kalahari Biltong from previous positions as CEO of No Cow and The Isopure Co., both high-growth and disruptive, private equity-backed health and wellness consumer product companies. During his first three years at The Isopure Co., Hickey was instrumental in doubling the business, resulting in the company’s sale to Glanbia plc, the Ireland-based global performance nutrition and ingredients company. Prior to his CEO experiences, Hickey was the CMO of EXOS, another high-growth, private equity-backed human performance company and held various marketing leadership positions at General Mills, Coors Molson and Abbott Nutrition. He holds his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Villanova University and his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
“When we were looking for an additional team member to add to our family, we knew we wanted someone who was thoughtful, like-minded and had experience that we did not have to help us navigate uncharted waters as we continue to rapidly grow, and Chris is just the right person,” said Tyler Noyes, co-founder of Kalahari Biltong. “We sought an equal partner who would add value and bring new skill sets to the table as we continue to make our vision a reality. With his incredible track record of growing high-profile brands, we are confident that Chris’ expertise will lead us in the right direction.”
Kalahari Biltong was founded in 2015 by Tyler Noyes, Brett Johnston and Robinson Ginsburg, inspired by a trip to South Africa and their introduction to biltong. Since then, Kalahari Biltong has established itself as the market leader in the centuries-old, South African tradition of naturally air-drying meat with simple ingredients, creating a cross between dry-aged beef jerky and prosciutto. Biltong has zero sugar and only six ingredients. Kalahari Biltong previously closed a seed investment from AccelFoods in October 2017 and has since experienced 500 percent year-over-year growth in 2018.
“The founders of Kalahari Biltong have started an incredible brand through meticulous attention to making the very best-tasting, nutritionally on-trend snack product on the market, and I’m thrilled to be joining a team with such phenomenal passion and conviction. As this will mark my third time as CEO, I’ve learned many lessons along the way and am pumped to work hand-in-hand with Tyler, Brett and Robin to continue to build this remarkable brand, grow our team, build best-in-class partnerships and introduce consumers to biltong,” said Hickey.
