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Work experience

Assistant to the President

Brazil-California Trade Association

Promotes commerce between Brazil and California through conferences, trade shows, treaties, laws and accords.

As Assistant to the President, I coordinated trade seminars to promote business between Brazil and California, specifically with banks such as Citibank, Exim-bank and Banco do Brazil to fund projects for what. Assisted the President in cultural practices, with legal jargon and performed translations of documents and conversations between English and Portuguese.

20092011

President & Managing Partner

Beyond Meat (previously J Green)

Joined start-up operation with 1 product, 1 employee in Mid-Atlantic.  Operation now has 14 skus and sales in numerous states.  Company received VC funding and is expanding nationwide. Activities included oversight of technology acquistion negotiations, production and sales expansion.

19942009

President & CEO

Chef Merito, Inc.

Chef Merito is a privately-held food company that creates, manufactures, markets and distributes seasonings, spices, and specialty foods for consumers of Latin American and Spanish foods.

President & CEO, took a business operated out of a garage with two products and branded the products and company into a well-recognized Hispanic brand of seasonings, marinades and sauces.  Today, the company distributes approximately 10 million pounds of product annually through three distribution centers located across the US, with over $12M in sales and has over 80 employees.

Community Activities

EDUCATION

LANGUAGE SKILLS

AFFILIATIONS

Certifications

May 2009Present

Board of Directors Education and Certification

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Interest

My two sons; non-fiction; vegan food; champagne; word travel with emphasis in China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Africa; contemporary art; world music.

BIOGRAPHY

Plinio Garcia has over twenty-five years of experience building and leading companies in the manufacture and distribution of emerging market products.  

Plinio Garcia also has experience in managing non-profit organizations. 

Plinio Garcia is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Click here to read more about me

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Business specialist with extensive sales, marketing and operations experience with P&L responsibility in corporate and entrepreneurial organizations.  Strong executive leadership skills demonstrated by growing sales, improving margins and increasing market share. Ability to improve brand equity to achieve market share targets.  Ability to sell to new customers with minimum costs and virtually no "slotting." Ability to integrate "social media" into organizations' sales, marketing and promotional plans.  Directorship experience in small and large non-profit organizations with budgets ranging from thousands to billions of dollars.  

Strategic Planning ~ General Management ~ Business Development

    Marketing & Product Strategy ~ Multi lingual ~ Training & Team Building

Manufacturing ~ Financial Planning ~ Budgeting ~ Distribution/Operations

Hispanic Markets Expert ~ Sales & Negotiation Expert in U.S. and International

CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS

  • President and managing partner of Beyond Meat (J Green Foods). Consulted  and worked with "start-up"  vegan / vegetarian-foods company and increased sales by 120% during first 9 months; Set-up US West coast sales and placed products in the US largest food-service distributor; introduced retail frozen foods product line; company went from 1 product to 7 food service items and 7 retail items; raised capital to complete mfg facility in Cumberland;  Presented to VCs and stayed with firm until well-known VC Firm, Kleiner-Perkins,  invested. 
  • President of Chef Merito, Inc., a Hispanic food products business (two spice blends) that currently manufactures and sells over 300 SKU's to retailers and food-service operators.
  • Developed the organization, price structure, key account contracts and marketing strategies, and developed new company website, product lines, and a worldwide distribution system.
  • Took the company from 0 to $12M in annual sales with little outside financing.
  • Originated over 3,000 accounts through cold calling; the company now services 6,000 regular accounts in domestic and international markets.
  • Worked in every aspect of the business from manufacturing to purchasing and sales.
  • Launched new brand and package lines which increased sales by 30% and gross margins by 50%.
  • Chef Merito is recognized as the leading brand of Hispanic seasonings in the marketplace.
  • Co-founder of two non profit organizations: Marina Peninsula Neighborhood Association and UCLA Latino Alumni Association.
  • Extensive experience in plant-design management.
  • Manufacturing machinery and Technology equipment evaluation, selection, negotiation and purchase in the U.S. and Europe.
  • Experience in (plant) site selection, evaluation, negotiation and acquisition.
  • Experience in commercial real estate selection, purchase and management.
  • Visionary of real estate trends with emphasis in making buildings adapt to new uses.
  • Consulting experience with franchisees, non-profits and start-ups.
  • More than 20 years of " corporate directorship " experience in profit and non-profits.

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