Former Starbucks president takes Supreme Cannabis reins on interim basis

, Former Starbucks president takes Supreme Cannabis reins on interim basis

Colin Moore, interin president and CEO of Supreme

Supreme Cannabis Company has parted ways with another chief executive, with Navdeep Dhaliwal leaving the Toronto-based company effective immediately.

Dhaliwal took over as CEO in September 2018.

The board appointed its director, Colin Moore, a former Starbucks Canada president, as interim CEO.

Supreme said it is engaging an executive search firm to identify a permanent replacement for Dhaliwal.

Moore served as president of Starbucks Canada from 2002 to 2011.

The experienced executive also spent a considerable amount of time with PepsiCo.

Moore’s immediate priorities include “rightsizing” Supreme’s production footprint.

“Greater efficiencies and speed to market will come by rightsizing our production, overhead and capital,” he said in the statement announcing his appointment.

Supreme is forecasting net revenue of between 150 million Canadian dollars ($115 million) and CA$180 million for fiscal 2020.

However, the company’s net revenue for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2019, fell to CA$11.4 million, a substantial decline from the previous quarter’s CA$19 million.

Operating expenses over the same time period increased 60% to CA$18.5 million.

The change in Supreme’s leadership comes as Canadian cannabis firms are pivoting their focus to execution.

A number of companies have seen significant changes in their executive ranks recently, including market leader Canopy Growth.

David Klein takes over as permanent CEO for the Smiths Falls, Ontario, company next week, replacing Mark Zekulin, who remained as chief executive officer after the board fired co-CEO Bruce Linton last July.

In December, Aurora Cannabis lost two prominent executives with the departure of Chief Global Business Development Officer Neil Belot and Chief Corporate Officer Cam Battley.

Shares of Supreme Cannabis trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange as FIRE.

Aurora’s shares trade as ACB on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Matt Lamers is Marijuana Business Daily’s international editor, based near Toronto. He can be reached at mattl@mjbizdaily.com.