Cyanotech Appoints Gerard Watts As COO - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Cyanotech Corp. (CYAN) said that it has appointed Gerard Watts to fill a newly-created position as Chief Operations Officer, effective today.

Watts, age 56, has more than 30 years of experience as a senior operations executive in the Food and Agribusiness industry.

Most recently he served as Principal Consultant, International Agribusiness for ProducePro Consultancy. Prior to 2013, he was Chief Operating Officer / General Manager at North Shore Greenhouses. While there, he was responsible for all functional business areas, including sales, marketing, production planning, quality control and food safety.

From 2008 to 2011, he was President of SunOpta Foods / SunOpta International Fruit Group, a $175 million vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor and redistributor of fresh fruit.

From 2005 to 2008, he was Vice President, General Manager - Maui Land and Pineapple Company in Maui, Hawaii, where he directed all business operations for the Pineapple Division, which under his direction reduced costs, increased net cash and EBIT and generated revenues in excess of $110 million; previously he served as Vice President, Operations and Processing for two years and then as Chief Operating Officer for one year before his promotion to head of the Pineapple division as Vice President, General Manager.

Prior thereto he capped more than 20 years with Calavo Growers Inc. of Santa Paula, California as Vice President, North American Operations / Vice President, General Manager Calavo de Mexico International.