LINCOLN, R.I. February (2016) – Finlay Extracts & Ingredients USA, Inc., a multinational agribusiness active in a number of inter-related market sectors, with a core focus on tea and coffee, has announced the appointment of Catherine U. Robinson as Vice President of Innovation and R&D. In this newly created senior management position, Ms. Robinson will serve as the principal owner for the company’s “Innovation,” collaboratively working with business unit leaders globally and domestically, including Sales, Marketing, Operations and Finance to ensure an alignment of company strategic goals.
Ms. Robinson will be responsible for leading and continually developing teams for product development, innovation and technical groups with applications in tea and coffee extracts. She will report to Steve Olyha, Chief Executive Officer, supporting the strategic direction to drive company growth by aligning with overall corporate business objectives and external expectations.
Ms. Robinson brings to the company 35 years professional experience across global food and beverage companies. Most recently she was the Sr. R&D Director, Plant Based Food, Beverages, Yogurt and Innovation for The WhiteWave Foods Company. Prior to that position she held various senior innovation and global strategy roles at PepsiCo, Inc. Earlier in her career she was Vice President Innovation for Cadbury Schweppes. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science and Nutrition from University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
About Finlays
Finlays is a multinational agribusiness active in a number of inter-related market sectors, with a core focus on tea and coffee. Founded in 1750 James Finlay became a wholly-owned subsidiary of John Swire & Sons in 2000. The Company has extensive tea interests in Kenya, Argentina, Sri Lanka and China complemented by global trading, packaging and extraction activities.
Finlays’ Estates in Kenya, Sri Lanka and South Africa total more than 13,000 hectares of land dedicated to tea growing producing 53 million kilos of black tea annually. Finlays are one of the only tea companies in the world to be involved in every aspect of the process of growing, trading, blending, extracting, packaging and distributing tea. Finlays is also one of the largest suppliers of Fairtrade tea and coffee in the world.
Finlays’ tea trading interests account for more than 60 million kilos of tea a year while the Company is the world’s largest supplier of high quality tea extracts including instant teas and aromas, dealing with all the world’s top beverages companies. The Company also has businesses in the UK and Sri Lanka sourcing, blending and packaging private label tea (and in the UK coffee) for customers in the UK, the Middle East and Japan.
