Dive Brief:
- Pet product company Bark has appointed Anya Hamill as its chief financial officer, effective Sept. 8. She will report to Bark’s co-founder, CEO and executive chairman, Matt Meeker.
- Hamill comes with more than two decades of finance experience in the consumer packaged goods space, most recently serving as CFO of plant-based food and beverage company Laird Superfood. She also held finance roles at Little Secrets Chocolates and WhiteWave Foods, which became part of Danone North America.
- Hamill succeeds Brian Dostie, who has been serving as interim CFO since April after Zahir Ibrahim stepped down as finance chief after about three years. Dostie will continue to serve as vice president of accounting and controller.
Dive Insight:
Hamill’s experience with both public and private companies in the CPG space will be “exceptionally beneficial” as Bark continues to grow, Meeker said.
In her four years as CFO of Laird Superfood, Hamill helped improve the company’s profitability and cash flow, strengthened its financial reporting process, led operational and financial transformation programs and worked with the executive team on strategic initiatives, acquisitions and capital allocation.
At Bark, Hamill’s annual compensation package includes a base salary of $450,000 plus an annual target bonus of 75% of the base salary (payable 50% in cash and 50% in immediately vested and unrestricted shares). Hamill is also eligible for additional bonuses and stock incentives, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The executive appointment comes as the company works to reposition itself beyond the personalized subscription box model on which it was built.
“The insight that is guiding our next chapter is this: BarkBox is not a box,” Meeker said on Bark’s latest earnings call last month. The company’s fourth quarter revenue declined 25% year over year, while its full-year revenue fell 18.5%.
“In many ways, we fought the wrong battles. We have been optimizing a model that the world has started to move past. The revenue trajectory you saw in today’s results reflects that,” Meeker said.
The company is focused on better understanding its current customer, consolidating its product offerings and reallocating resources. Bark is also invested in growing its commerce segment through both wholesale and marketplace channels, as well as expanding its Bark Air charter airline.
But it comes as the company has faced financial challenges. At the start of the year, the company received two take-private offers, both of which they rejected. And after receiving a noncompliance notice from the New York Stock Exchange last year, Bark initiated a 1-for-20 reverse stock split.
