Catalina Crunch Announces Andy Van Ark as New CMO
Catalina Crunch, a zero-sugar brand in the cereal category, has recently hired Andy Van Ark as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Van Ark joins Catalina Crunch after having recently led the sales and marketing efforts for Red’s All Natural. Under his leadership, Red’s grew its brand presence significantly leading to an acquisition of the brand by private investment firm Bansk Group.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Andy join us in the newly developed role of Chief Marketing Officer,” said Joel Warady, President of Catalina Snacks. “Our marketing team has done a great job during the past few years growing the Catalina Crunch brand to its current category leading status. With Andy’s expertise and creative thinking, along with the extensive data gathering tools that we have developed, we are certain we will continue to dominate the categories in which we participate.”
Catalina Crunch, having launched as a DTC exclusive brand in 2019, is now sold in more than 20,000 stores throughout the US and continues to be the driving force in the once-stagnant cereal category’s growth. With additional pack sizes being introduced, the product line is now gaining wide acceptance in convenience stores, food service and airport locations.
“The consumer’s passion and acceptance of our product line has been humbling,” said Krishna Kaliannan, the CEO/Founder of Catalina Crunch. “Not only do our consumers love our cereal, but they have accepted our additional categories of Low-Sugar Sandwich Cookies and Keto-Friendly Snack Mixes with open arms. We continue to see pent-up consumer demand as illustrated by the success of our new limited-edition flavors of cereal, cookies and snack mix that continuously surpass all velocity goals.”
“I am excited to be joining the great team at Catalina Crunch,” said Van Ark. “Catalina Crunch is driving unprecedented growth through innovative product launches that are disrupting stagnant categories. I look forward to bringing my experience to Catalina Crunch and taking the brand to the next level.”
The Catalina Crunch brand had a record-breaking year in 2022, having gained more than 46,000 points of distribution in the three categories in which its products live. Adding to its success, Catalina Crunch will be introducing a new product line at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West in March.
“With our current distribution momentum, our on-going digital, television and out-of-home advertising, the introduction of our upcoming new product line, and the addition of Andy Van Ark in the CMO role, we look forward to delivering another record setting year in 2023,” Warady said.