News for 'SPKL' - (Spicy Pickle Strengthens Board; Announces Three New Members)
DENVER, CO, Mar 18, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Spicy Pickle Franchising,
Inc. (OTCBB: SPKL), operator of the fast casual restaurant chains Spicy Pickle
in the United States and Bread Garden Urban Cafe in Canada, today proudly
announced the significant strengthening of its board of directors with the
addition of three members, bringing the total to seven.
The new board members are Mo Siegel, Gregg Marshall and Stacey Reed. The company
has increased the board to 7 members to provide for directors with industry
experience. Mr. Siegel and Mr. Marshall are considered independent directors and
are not investors in the company.
Mr. Mo Siegel is the founder of Celestial Seasonings, Inc., the largest
manufacturer and marketer of Specialty teas in North America. He served at
various times as Chairman, President and CEO of that company from 1970 until
2002, including after its sale to the Hain Food Group in 2000. He also founded
Earth Wise, Inc. products that was sold to Block Drug Company. He is a public
speaker, author, and has been featured in books, newspaper and magazine articles
and for his work with several non-profit organizations. Mr. Siegel presently
serves on the Board of Directors of Whole Foods Market, Camelback Corp, and
Annie's Homegrown Foods. He has served on 16 Boards of Directors on both public
and private organizations and has extensive experience and continuing education
in board management and affairs. Over decades, Mr. Siegel has served on the
audit, governance, nomination, and compensation committees of publicly traded
companies. He has specialized in the food industry either as a founder or board
member for the past 40 years.
Mr. Gregg Marshall was the founder and CEO of SYGMA Network, Inc. which he built
into the nation's second largest distributor to restaurant chains, supplying
chain restaurants nationwide through 17 distribution centers, over 4,000
employees, and more than $4 billion in annual sales. He also led SYGMA's
acquisition of a business supplying international locations of US restaurant
chains in over 100 countries. Today, SYGMA is the largest subsidiary of SYSCO
Corporation, a Fortune 100 company and the largest foodservice distributor in
the US and Canada. Mr. Marshall also served as a senior officer of SYSCO for 22
years, a member of its senior executive team, and a participant in over 100
consecutive meetings of SYSCO's Board. During his tenure, SYSCO grew from $2
billion to over $30 billion in annual sales. Previously, Mr. Marshall spent 10
years as an officer of Leprino Foods, Nobel Inc., and Shamrock Foods, all of
which have been leading foodservice innovators. Currently he runs the Marshall
Consulting Group whose clients include restaurant chains, foodservice suppliers,
investment management firms, and private equity firms, consulting on
franchisor/franchisee relations and supply chain optimization. Mr. Marshall sits
on the Board of CiCi's Pizza, a family style pizza concept with over 650
locations in the US.
Mrs. Stacey Reed is the wife of Presley Reed, who has been a member of the Board
of Directors for several years, and along with Stacey, a principal investor in
the company. From 1986 until 2008 when the company was sold, Mrs. Reed was the
President of the Reed Group, Ltd., a company that delivers robust content,
services and solutions, and software to help companies improve their
organization's performance, and return employees to healthy lives and full
productivity. Started by Presley Reed, Reed Group was a pioneer in the field of
identifying, preventing and managing employee absence. The company researched
and published the definitive return-to-work reference tool now known as the
MDGuidelines used by over 22,000 case managers and health care providers in 38
countries in their day-to-day operations.
Additionally Mr. Presley Reed will assume the duties as Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Geman, CEO, said, "We are truly blessed to have attracted this quality of
new board members. I am sure these additions will go a long way, and quickly,
toward helping the company connect with industry partners that can accelerate
our growth and maximize our systems to create a profitable and attractive
franchise system. We have excellent food and a good foothold with our brands and
now with help from these top executives who have been there before and have the
creativity, knowledge and resources in this industry, we are confident that we
will continue to grow at an acceptable pace. Having any one of these people on
board would be a cause for pride but to be able to fill out our board with this
level of membership is truly a compliment to our concept and bodes well for the
future."
Other current board members are Presley Reed, Ray Bonanno and company employees
Marc Geman and Tony Walker.
About Spicy Pickle(TM) and Bread Garden: Founded in 1999, Spicy Pickle
Franchising, Inc. (OTCBB: SPKL) serves high quality meats and fine artisan
breads, baked fresh daily, along with a wide choice of eight different cheeses,
twenty-two different toppings, and fourteen proprietary spreads to create
healthy and delicious panini and sub sandwiches with flavors from around the
world. As a leading "fast-casual" concept, Spicy Pickle offers menu items that
are far beyond traditional fast food but without the price point of casual
dining. The hallmark of a Spicy Pickle restaurant is quality, service and an
enjoyable atmosphere. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with
restaurants open across 11 states and more in development nationwide. Spicy
Pickle Franchising, Inc. also operates as franchisor for Bread Garden Urban
Cafes, a bakery cafe concept with restaurants in the metropolitan Vancouver,
Canada area. Bread Garden Urban Cafes serve coffee, pastries and breakfast items
as well as lunch and dinner along with a wide variety of desserts and are found
in typical high density urban settings along with specialty locations in two
airports in British Columbia. To find out more about Spicy Pickle (OTCBB: SPKL),
visit our website at www.spicypickle.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release, including
statements regarding the number of restaurants we intend to open, are
forward-looking statements. We use words such as "anticipate," "believe,"
"could," "should," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "predict," "project,"
"target," and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions, to
identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this
press release are based on information available to us as of the date any such
statements are made and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking
statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the
statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
following: factors that could affect our ability to achieve and manage our
planned expansion, such as the availability of a sufficient number of suitable
new restaurant sites and the availability of qualified franchisees and
employees; risks relating to our expansion into new markets; the risk of
food-borne illnesses and other health concerns about our food products; changes
in the availability and costs of food; changes in consumer preferences, general
economic conditions or consumer discretionary spending; the impact of federal,
state or local government regulations relating to our franchisees and employees,
and the sale of food or alcoholic beverages; the impact of litigation; our
ability to protect our name and logo and other proprietary information; the
potential effects of inclement weather; the effect of competition in the
restaurant industry; and other risk factors described from time to time in our
SEC reports.
Company Contact:
Marc Geman
Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc.
Email Contact
www.spicypickle.com
(303) 297-1902
The Investor Relations Company:
Woody Wallace
Email Contact
312-245-2700
SOURCE: Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc.
