Former Whole Foods Exec Joins ePallet’s Board
ePallet, a wholesale consumable online marketplace, has added Michael Schall, a former Whole Foods Market executive, to its board of directors. Schall, who has more than three decades of senior management experience with a number of leading food companies, will collaborate closely with ePallet's executive team.
ePallet provides wholesale customers with direct access to a more efficient and cost-effective way to buy and sell food and consumables in full-pallet increments by leveraging its proprietary, artificial intelligence-driven, web-based platform. According to the company, it offers a wide selection of natural, organic, specialty and conventional food, beverage and other consumer products, with no hidden costs, serving retailers, manufacturers, foodservice companies, institutions and vendors.
Schall is currently the managing director of Los Angeles-based FocalPoint Partners, a global middle-market investment banking firm, where he is also a co-leader for the firm's food and beverage practice. Before joining FocalPoint, Schall was senior coordinator for the global growth and business development team at Whole Foods Market. While at the grocer, Schall provided leadership on a wide range of business initiatives, including investments, acquisitions, new ventures, strategic partnerships and product development for Whole Foods' exclusive brands business.
In addition, Schall is the former president and CEO of The B. Manischewitz Co. and Guiltless Gourmet, and among other senior management positions, he held a brand management role at Lawry's Foods, a division of Unilever. Schall graduated from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business with a master of business administration in marketing. He also holds a bachelor of science in marketing from California State University, Los Angeles.
"It's an honor to be a part of ePallet and to partner with James and his team," said Schall. "Food companies looking to scale their brand should consider ePallet as an efficient resource to raise brand awareness and to move product. I believe that ePallet's business model will lead to new business insights, perspectives and success stories for both established brands as well as emerging and growing companies in the natural products space."
"We're looking forward to collaborating and partnering with Mike," said James Kwon, co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based ePallet. "By adding him to ePallet's board, we will receive key insights from his successful career as a brand builder, merchant and operating executive. Our team is impressed with Schall's experience in negotiating strategic joint ventures with Fortune 500 companies."
ePallet also recently expanded its workforce, hiring two experienced food business professionals to lead its regional sales teams. Janette Carpentier, who has come aboard as regional VP of sales for the eastern United States, was formerly Northeast region senior director of business development with San Antonio-based global foodservice company ISS US. ePallet also hired Patrick J. Renzi, a California food industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience, as its regional VP of sales for the western United States.
The first national certified-organic grocer, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The grocer is No. 26 on The PG 100 list, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while its parent company, Seattle-based Amazon, is No. 2 on PG’s list.
