DAVIS, Calif., April 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKDA), a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional value of crops and food ingredients, today announced that Randy Shultz, Ph.D. has been promoted to the role of chief technology officer. Shultz joined Arcadia in 2019 as head of research and development and has played a vital role in the development of cutting-edge breeding technologies, deployed in close partnership with the hemp grower community. In this new, elevated position, he will oversee the execution of Arcadia's strategic, multi-year plan to become a market leader in high-value hemp innovations, as well as continue to advance next generation products through the company's GoodWheatTM pipeline.
Since launching its hemp operations in February of 2019, Arcadia has been rapid-prototyping novel non-GM hemp varieties that target quality and performance characteristics highly desired by growers to overcome their greatest challenges – working directly with them in field deployment and monitoring to accelerate their speed to success. This new and proprietary discovery process, ArcaTech, combines Arcadia's modern breeding science and genomics technology with real-time market intelligence from the field. Elite growers who enroll in the company's GoodHempTMInnovation Partners program – located in six major hubs including Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Northern California, the Desert Southwest and the Mountain West – will provide an invaluable feedback loop to guide Arcadia's development strategies.
"We're fortunate to have a seasoned and innovative R&D strategist like Randy at the helm as we enact and expedite our plans for the budding multi-billion dollar hemp industry," said Matthew Plavan, Arcadia's president and CEO. "Randy has played an integral role in the development and rollout of ArcaTech, a proprietary crop-agnostic discovery platform that will help us meet growers' demand for quality and compliant seeds and unlock the full potential of this plant in the industrial and food ingredient markets."
Shultz has 20 years of experience in plant science and agricultural biotechnology. Before joining Arcadia, he served as director of R&D and senior director of R&D strategy at Inari Agriculture. As the global crop lead, Shultz played an instrumental role building and scaling Inari's R&D platform and developing a foundational intellectual property estate. Previously, Shultz led numerous scientific production teams at Monsanto (now Bayer Crop Science), including their Genome Editing Platform team.
"Since joining Arcadia last year, it has been rewarding to apply my experience in plant breeding and genomics to the improvement of a previously uncharted crop like hemp," said Shultz. "It's an honor to accept this new role building out a disruptive technology platform for Arcadia that holds such promise for growers, businesses and consumers alike."
Shultz received his Ph.D. in functional genomics from North Carolina State University and his B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has authored over a dozen patents and publications.
About Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.
Arcadia Biosciences (Nasdaq: RKDA) is a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional value of crops and food ingredients. The company's GoodWheat™ branded ingredients deliver health benefits to consumers and enable consumer packaged goods companies to differentiate their brands in the marketplace. Arcadia's agricultural traits are being developed to enable farmers around the world to be more productive and minimize the impact of agriculture on the environment. The company's new GoodHemp seed catalog delivers genetically superior hemp seeds, clones, transplants, flower and extracts, applying the company's proprietary crop innovation technology, ArcaTech, to an emerging crop. For more information, visit www.arcadiabio.com.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: Arcadia's and its partners' and affiliates' expectations about the legal cannabis industry and potential demand for our products; the uncertainty of the laws and regulations relating to hemp and products derived therefrom; the inherent uncertainty associated with the development of new projects; the acceptance of our products in the marketplace; the impact of competitive products and pricing; risks related to costs, delays and uncertainties associated with potential future scientific research; our future capital requirements and ability to satisfy our capital needs; ; and the other risks set forth in Arcadia's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the risks set forth in Arcadia's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other filings. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
LinkedIn: Arcadia Biosciences
Twitter: @ArcadiaAg
View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arcadia-biosciences-promotes-randy-shultz-phd-to-chief-technology-officer-301033133.html
SOURCE Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.
Press Contact: Lisa Weser, Trailblaze, lisa@trailblaze.co, Investor Contact: Pam Haley, Chief Financial Officer, ir@arcadiabio.com
