Thomas Galligan III
Thomas Galligan III is widely respected for his versatility and leadership experience within the food service industry. He served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Papa Gino's Holdings Corp. from February 1997 until October 2008 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until March 2009 when he was appointed Executive Chairman. PGHC operates 350 restaurants under the Papa Gino's and D'Angelo Grilled Sandwich Brands and has over 5,000 employees. These two leading brands serve over 25 million guests each year throughout the New England region.
Tom was associated with PepsiCo, Inc. for eight years, serving as Chief Financial Officer of its PepsiCo International and Pepsi Cola Bottling Group divisions. He brings to MooBella extensive experience in building consumer and retail businesses, initiating acquisitions, and the development of enduring, long-range strategies.
Tom is a Director of Bay State Milling Company, Town Sports International, Dental Services of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Restaurant Association (Chairman), the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and the Boston College Carroll School of Management Advisory Board.
He has been actively involved with numerous charitable organizations including Easter Seals of Massachusetts and The Genesis Fund for the National Birth Defects Center for more than a decade. A U.S. Army veteran who served here, in Germany and in Viet Nam from 1966 to 1969, Tom was awarded both the Bronze star and the Purple Heart.
He holds an MBA from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business and a BS Degree from Boston College.
Bruce Ginsberg
Bruce Ginsberg knows how to create, build and manage companies and brands. During the 80's while transforming a small family run street vending company into one of the most successful independently owned ice cream distributorships in North America, Ginsberg also helped pioneer many category leading consumer brands like Ben + Jerry's, Häagen-Dazs, Real Fruit Sorbet, Dove Bar and Froz Fruit. During the 90's Ginsberg expanded his product lines, customer base and operations and created the first fully integrated hybrid warehouse / direct store delivery system. With annual sales exceeding $240 million, Ginsberg negotiated the sale of his company to C+S Wholesale Grocers where he joined their executive team for two years. In 1999, Ginsberg founded New England Ice Cream Corp which today provides customized food and beverage distribution service to over 5,000 regional locations across several trade channels. Ginsberg remains the sole shareholder of New England Ice Cream which is run by a leadership team he put in place.
In 2000, Ginsberg was introduced to an early version of the companies' technology and initial patents. Ginsberg was motivated by the opportunity to develop a commercially viable system to produce fresh made, customized, portion controlled ice cream and other frozen desserts at the point of purchase. Ginsberg created the MooBella brand and married it to the revolutionary technology. Under Ginsberg's leadership, MooBella successfully transitioned from an R+D project to a commercialized entity. Now with a multitude of globally issued patents, a world class manufacturing partner (IDEX – NYSE listed as IEX), an excellent team of motivated associates and complete support from its Geneva based partner Inventages (www.inventages.com), Ginsberg looks forward to driving MooBella's growth and expansion from its regional launch to becoming a global entity.
Ginsberg received both his B.A. and M.B.A. (cum laude) from Boston College. Ginsberg has been honored by entry into the New England Convenience Store Association's Hall of Fame and is a current Ernst + Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award - Finalist. Ginsberg is a member of the Board of Directors of Mac-Gray (listed as TUC) and a Director of the non profit www.needtolead.com organization.
Ajai Puri
Ajai Puri provides strategic counsel, business development expertise, R & D capabilities, and industry insight to food and nutrition corporations around the world.
He is a Supervisory Board Director and chair of the Board's Innovation and Sustainability Committee at Nutreco N.V. (Amersfoort, the Netherlands), the largest animal nutrition and aquaculture company, with operations in all major global markets. In addition, he currently serves as Non-Executive Director at Brittania Industries Ltd. (Bangalore, India), India's most trusted independent food group; a Scientific Advisory Board Director at both Horizon Sciences Ltd. (Melborne, Australia), a start-up venture focusing on low-glycemic technologies and at Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (Chicago, USA), the world's leading pediatric nutrition company; and a Senior Advisor for Innovation/Life Sciences at DSM N.V. (Heerlen, the Netherlands), one of the world's largest food and nutritional ingredients businesses.
From 2004 – 2007, Ajai served as a Non-Executive Director at PT Sari Husada TBK (Jakarta, Indonesia), the country's foremost baby food company.
Ajai's executive experience includes work with Royal Numico N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a specialized nutrition company, where he served as President for Research & Development, Food Safety and Product Integrity and Principal Crisis Management Officer. Earlier in his career he was associated with The Coca Cola Company/The Minute Maid Company (TMMC), a global leader with Odwalla, Simply Orange, and Five Alive among its top brands. AT TMMC Ajai was responsible for strategic and operational leadership across all scientific and technological functions including R & D, Packaging, Quality Assurance, Nutrition, Regulatory Affairs and Environmental Science.
Ajai earned a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Crummer Business School, Rollins College. He is the co-founder of P.A.N.I., a charitable organization dedicated to improving the lives of under-privileged children in India.
Erich Sieber
Erich Sieber, Senior Vice President of Inventages, a venture capital fund based in Switzerland, is recognized for his international business experience. Prior to joining Inventages Erich gained operational experience in various management positions within Nestlé, the World Economic Forum, and the German Finance Ministry. In his last position at Nestlé he was head of marketing & sales for a business division based in Asia with $500 million revenue, and managed a team of 70.
He holds a B.A. in business, economics and law from HSG University of St Gallen, Switzerland, and a tri-lingual MBA of EAP-ESCP European School of Management (Paris-Oxford-Berlin).
Ralph F. Verni
Ralph F. Verni, CFA, Board Chairman of the Eaton Vance family of Mutual Funds, is recognized as a leader in finance and asset management. For the last decade he has served as a board member of numerous public and private ventures, including Commonwealth Capital Ventures L.P., and as a member of the Zurich Financial Investment Management Advisory Council. He formerly served as a member of the Boards and Audit Committees of First Pioneer Farm Credit, and as a member of the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee of The Macgregor Group, a Boston-based computer software firm serving the investment management industry.
Earlier in his career he was President & CEO of State Street Research & Management, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer for New England Life and Chief Executive Officer of New England Investment Companies.
Ralph is a member of numerous professional organizations including the National Association of Corporate Directors; Boston Economics Club; the Commercial Club of Boston; Board Leaders, Inc; The CFA institute; and the New York and Boston Societies of Security Analysts.
He is an Emeritus Trustee of Colgate University's Board of Directors, a former Chairman of its Investment Committee and a current Advisory Member. He is also an Emeritus member and former Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the MIT Center for Real Estate, and has been actively involved with the United Way and Habitat for Humanity.
Ralph holds a Masters Degree from the Columbia University School of Business and a Bachelor's Degree from Colgate University.
