$1 billion berry startup Fruitist hires tech finance chief as its new CFO

Good morning. Fruitist, a premium “superfruit” brand known for its jumbo blueberries, cherries, blackberries, and raspberries, is shaking up the snacking industry and adding a CFO as the unicorn’s financial outlook sweetens.

Rich Sullivan joins the Los Angeles-based startup from SurveyMonkey, a global online survey platform, where he served as CFO since 2022. Fruitist, founded in 2012 and formerly known as Agrovision, launched its first consumer products in 2020, recently surpassed $400 million in annual sales, and reached a valuation above $1 billion.

Key funders include Ray Dalio’s family office (founder of Bridgewater Associates), Aliment Capital, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, iab, and BBVA. Fruitist supplies over 12,500 retail stores across 28 countries—including Walmart, Whole Foods, and Costco—and employs about 1,200 people globally.

Sullivan brings more than 20 years of experience, including roles as CFO at Acorns and VP of corporate finance and FP&A at Twitter. He previously held finance and operations leadership positions at DreamWorks Animation SKG and at STX Entertainment.

What drew him to Fruitist was the intersection of mission and market opportunity. “I’m personally inspired by the mission to create enjoyable and nutritious snacking,” Sullivan told me, adding that making an impact is deeply important to him.

“Fruitist has reached a critical point in its growth cycle where financial leadership can really have a material impact,” he said, viewing finance as a navigation system to help enable the company’s strategy.

Sullivan believes Fruitist’s market opportunity is strong as consumers become more conscious about health and are willing to pay for premium products. I think an example is the impact of GLP-1, anti-obesity medications in changing how people shop, eat, and snack.

According to Steve Magami, co-founder and CEO, Sullivan’s “financial leadership and deep capital markets experience will strengthen Fruitist’s foundation as we continue to grow globally and expand our reach to new consumers.”

When asked about a potential IPO, Sullivan said: “It’s too early to tell what the future holds.” According to a representative for Fruitist, the company has not announced any formal plans at this time.

As CFO, Sullivan’s job is to ensure Fruitist is set up to achieve its goals and maintain strategic options, he told me. “The company has done an amazing job of differentiating itself by creating a premium brand,” he said.

Fruitist uses AI to assess berry quality and applies advanced varietal research, post-harvest storage technology, data analytics, robotics, and bee pollination. The company grows fruit in over 10 microclimates on its own farms in the U.S., Peru, Mexico, Chile, Morocco, Egypt, India, and China.

Regarding tariffs, Sullivan said operational inputs like these must be managed proactively, but Fruitist is well positioned to navigate such challenges.

Sullivan is not only Fruitist’s CFO but also a fan of its products—blueberries are his favorite.

“I love cooking, and I think I’m going to learn how to make a lot of blueberry recipes,” he said.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com