Hain Celestial Group has announced the appointment of Pasquale ("Pat") Conte as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He is succeeding Stephen J. Smith, who will remain with the company through September 30, to ensure an orderly transition.
"I am honored to have this opportunity to lead our finance team as we grow across geographies and sales channels with existing and new customers," said Pat Conte. "Our organization has a strong foundation for growth beginning with Irwin, the leadership team and all Hain Celestial's employees and partners, who are committed to work with us to achieve our business goals to 2020 and beyond."
Pat joined Hain Celestial in 2009 after acting as a financial consultant for the company, and by October 2014 was named Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer. In these roles, Pat has overseen the company's worldwide financial planning and analysis and worked strategically on mergers and acquisitions, quarterly reporting, taxes and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance as well as productivity and other initiatives.
According to a press release, Pat is a Certified Public Accountant, who previously worked at Colgate-Palmolive Company, NYNEX Corporation and Arthur Anderson, LLP. Pat has also held a series of financial positions at Motorola, Inc. (formerly Symbol Technologies, Inc.), including Tax Director, Vice President and Controller and ultimately, Chief Financial Officer.
"Pat has been an integral part of our finance team for over five years, where he has been a key leader in working to drive our continued growth and success over the last several years," said Irwin D. Simon, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial. "Pat's deep understanding of consumer goods, his forward thinking and tenure at the Company make him a natural candidate to help us to continue to growth both organically and through acquisitions on a global basis."
Irwin also added that he and the company thanks Steve Smith for all his contributions over the past two years, and he wishes him well in all his future endeavors.
