Our Team
Blender Bites was created to simplify the smoothie process, from minimizing harmful packaging to prep and clean up time.
Our team
Chelsie Hodge
Founder & CEO
Chelsea Hodge
Founder & CEO
Chelsie has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Capilano University. She has 15 years of experience in capital markets working in all aspects of IR, Communications and Fundraising.
Chelsie has had an interest in nutrition and emerging ingredient trends since an early age and strongly believes in the power of food as medicine.
Chelsie got her start in the plant-based sector in 2006 while working for category disrupter, VEGA. Here, she received a crash course on the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and what it takes to start a consumer goods brand.
Mike Iannone
VP of Finance
Mike Iannone
VP of Finance
Mike has over 12 years of experience in managing finance teams, financial reporting and transaction advisory services spanning across the US, UK and Canada for both public companies and private enterprises.
Beginning his career at Grant Thornton in Canada and qualifying as a CPA, CA, he moved to the financial services sector within the Strategic Finance department at Lloyd’s Banking Group in the UK and subsequently to Travelex North America, leading the finance team’s foreign exchange retail division based in New York.
Mike has specialized in leading various public companies and growing startups implement financial processes and systems, optimize their financial resources, and achieve strategic objectives throughout their growth plan initiatives.
Kal Bring
Director of Operations
Kal Bring
Director of Operations
Kal has over 20 years of progressive supply chain experience analyzing opportunities in: procurement (sourcing), inventory management, forecasting, demand/ category/ capacity/ production planning, logistics, multi-channel distribution and budgeting to increase an organization’s profitability and competitiveness.
Kal brings over 14 years of utilizing ERP/MRP, statistical software, data mining & business intelligence. As well as 7 years leading S&OP meetings leveraging available resources to achieve revenue and profitability goals supporting cross functionally product development, marketing, sales and finance.
Tracey Slade
Director of Quality Assurance
Tracey Slade
Director of Quality Assurance
Tracey leads the company Quality Department with over 29 years of QA/QC and regulatory experience within the Food and Beverage business.
She has extensive training in Food Safety, Regulatory, Quality and Safety. She has training in internal auditing. GFSI Global Food Safety Initiative (BRC, FSSC22000), SFCR (Safe food for Canadian Regulations), Preventive Controls for Human Food(PCQI), Food Defense, GMP, HACCP, Sanitation, Allergens, Organics, Non-GMO, Kosher and Health and Safety.
Before joining Blender bites Tracey has experience with different kinds of processing. Aseptic processing, milling, grinding, liquid compounding, hot packing, powder blending, RTE Salads, humus and dips and juice pasteurization.
Our advisory Board
Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson
Vega
Mark brings over 25 year’s experience in supply chain operations management. Mark is the former Vice President – Operations of VEGA, a leading North American plant-based, nutritional supplement company. Mark led all aspects of the company’s Supply Chain, Quality, and Research and Development Operations from the early days as a smaller Canadian player with $10M in sales to an international company selling over
$200M USD annually. The growth of the company saw Mark architect a completely new manufacturing and distribution structure with four times the manufacturing partners, twice the number of distribution centers, and supporting rapid growth in new product development. Mark was also an integral player in supporting the company through a highly successful strategic sale to Whitewave Foods for $550M USD in 2015. Following his success at Vega, Mark founded his own Supply Chain Operations consulting firm called Wilson Management Group Ltd, where he and his team advise companies in developing and deploying their procurement, purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, distribution, research & development, regulatory, and quality control.
Dionne Laslo-Baker
Dionne Laslo-Baker
Deebee's Organics
Dionne is the founder and CEO of Deebee’s Organics, an organic, clean label fruitpop and freezie brand with International partnerships with Disney and the hit movie “Frozen”.
Dionne is a Canadian expert on the impacts of environmental toxins – especially in the food chain – on child health. A PhD medical researcher in the field of maternal fetal toxicology, her doctorate focused on the effects of exposure to chemicals during pregnancy on fetal development.
A strong proponent for the health science behind organic food, Dionne founded DeeBee’s Organics on a mission to make ‘conscious’ snacking really fun
Richard Pollock
Richard Pollock
Ener-C
A perennial entrepreneur with multiple exits, Richard co-founded Pauling Labs—and the brand Ener-C — in 2014. Ener-C experienced significant global growth in its first three years of business and is currently one of the fastest growing supplement brands in North America. Ener-C is currently distributed in 15,000+ retail locations in Canada, US, England, Greece, Cypress, Ukraine, UAE, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean.
In 1999, Richard founded Vitascorb Supplements and acquired the license for the brand Emergen-C™ in Canada. Vitascorb was acquired by Pfizer Inc. in 2012. Since 2012 Richard has actively invested and sat on the board of several CPG companies that have either transacted or continue to operate today.
Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe
Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe
Title
Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe has over 35 years in the nutrition industry and has been voted one of Canada’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs for several years in a row. Lorna was the founder, CEO, and creator of a top-selling line of women’s nutritional supplements under her own brand“Lorna Vanderhaeghe Health Solutions”, which in four short years made Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies list and was acquired by Jamieson Wellness, the largest nutritional supplement company, for 8 figures. Lorna holds a Master of Science degree from Simon Fraser University.
Cole Orobetz
Cole Orobetz
Alpha Foods
Orobetz, a native of Calgary, Alberta, is the co-founder and current CEO and CFO of Alpha FoodsInc., a California plant-based meal solution company founded in 2015 to make a positive impact on animal welfare, planet health and human health, the company’s sustainability pillars. In only six years, Alpha Foods has grown to become a leading plant-based meal solution platform offering a wide array of options familiar to all eaters, and is currently found in over 9,000 stores across North America including a Costco, Kroger, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Albertsons, Safeway and Walmart.
Cole holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Calgary, and is a Chartered Professional Accountant, with a specialization in Corporate Finance. Prior to foundingAlpha Foods, Orobetz started his career at Ernst & Young LLP and spent a number of years in food and agriculture venture capital as Investment Director with Aviro Capital.Cole is a founding member of The Angel Group, a growing community of industry professionals who invest in companies with promising consumer packaged goods, and exceptional clean label products in high-growth categories.Cole has a proven history of building businesses along side entrepreneurs from the onset of their journey, extensive experience in originating, negotiating, and closing equity-structured investments, and providing strategic and financial advice to entrepreneurs and seasoned senior executives.
Chelsie Hodge
Chelsea Hodge
Founder & CEO
Chelsie brings a unique skill set to the table with over a decade of working experience in the high growth plant-based consumer packaged goods sector along with over fifteen years in capital market. Chelsie has held Sales and Business Development positions with industry disruptors such as VEGA along with Investor Relations roles for a variety of public company sectors. Most recently she acted as a consultant assisting with IPO transactions, M&A and capital raises.
The concept of “easy smoothie” was born in Chelsie’s kitchen, as a solution for an easy better for you alternative; eliminating the high costs of organic produce & vitamins while tackling the food waste issues involved in the normal smoothie preparation method. What started as an idea grew to a nationally distribution frozen good brand sold in many of Canada’s largest grocery chains. Chelsie helped pioneer the easy smoothie category, fundamentally changing the way consumers look & prepare smoothies. Aside from the impressive rapid distribution gains, Chelsie grew the company as a solo entrepreneur, recruiting her family & tapping into her strong industry connections for support on growing this brand to where it is today. She is passionate about start-ups and is also an investor herself; focusing on early-stage food companies working to make a difference in our food systems.
Chelsie has a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of entrepreneurship from product development and manufacturing to sales and business development; making her a strong leader to take Blender Bites into International Markets.
Our Board of directors
Chelsie Hodge
Chelsea Hodge
Founder & CEO
Chelsie has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Capilano University. She has 15 years of experience in capital markets working in all aspects of IR, Communications and Fundraising.
Chelsie has had an interest in nutrition and emerging ingredient trends since an early age and strongly believes in the power of food as medicine.
Chelsie got her start in the plant-based sector in 2006 while working for category disrupter, VEGA. Here, she received a crash course on the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and what it takes to start a consumer goods brand.
Christopher Mackay
Christopher Mackay
Mr. Christopher Mackay is a distinguished professional renowned for his extensive expertise in both the real estate and investment sectors. Holding the position of President at Strand Financial Corporation, he takes the helm of the company's real estate endeavors within the United States. His responsibilities encompass an array of critical tasks, including the sourcing and analysis of new acquisitions, as well as the oversight of development and financing or refinancing efforts. Under his guidance, Strand Financial Corporation has amassed an impressive portfolio of over 3,000 properties strategically located in major markets across the United States, a testament to his astute decision-making and strategic prowess.Mr. Mackay is a member of the Audit Committee.
Grant Smith
Grant Smith
Development, Sales and Marketing and Senior Management. Grant brings substantial operating, integration, and M&A experience as Pond’s Chief Executive Officer.
Grant has a science background combined with an entrepreneurial skill set that lead him to starting several companies in the Wellness and Health Sectors. In 2016 Grant assisted in the start of Blender Bites Inc which is filing to go public. In 2018 Grant exited his company, RFI Canada, as he sold the company to Pond Technologies. RFI Canada grew at an annual rate of approximately 20% between 2013 and 2018 prior to being sold to Pond Technologies.
Grant then started Pond Naturals as the nutraceutical division of Pond’s wellness and supplement products including Astaxanthin, Spirulina and more. During Grant’s time at Pond Technologies, he guided the company on the acquisition of Regenurex a Vancouver, B.C. based producer of Astaxanthin. In 2020 Grant became the CEO of Pond Technologies.
Grant brings a unique dimension to the team, with broad knowledge of the CPG space and operating expertise. Grant graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours B.Sc. in Human Nutrition and a minor in Human Kinetics. Grant prolific career significantly broadens Pond’s internal capabilities at this pivotal point in the company’s development.
Nima Bahrami
Nima Bahrami
Mr. Bahrami has worked extensively in the natural health and finance space with a focus on business development and strategy consulting. He has successfully created and established health and wellness corporations and product lines and has consulted on their integration with publicly traded companies. Mr. Bahrami holds an MBA from Cardiff University.
Patrick Morris
Patrick Morris
Mr. Morris is an entrepreneur and capital markets executive with 20 years of experience raising funds for microcap companies in a number of industries including pharmaceutical cannabis, resource exploration, blockchain technologies, finance and business related to the future of food. Mr. Morris currently serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Clear Sky Lithium Corp (CSE:POWR) and has served as CEO and Director of EAT Beyond Global Holdings Inc. (CSE:EATS), Canada’s first publicly traded investment issuer specifically focused on investing in the future of food. Mr. Morris also co-created and co-produced Canada’s first nationally syndicated radio show about growth stock opportunities which was broadcast on fourteen of the the top-rated news talk stations across Canada.
Why Invest?
Our planet is the only home we’ll have. We are proud to be free of any unnecessary inner plastic packaging that is damaging to our environment and we source locally whenever possible.