Clif Bar (United States) - Clif Bar & Company announced the hiring of Rizal Hamdallah as the company’s first-ever Chief Innovation Officer. Hamdallah joins Clif Bar as the energy bar pioneer pursues a bold new plan to expand their company and grow its positive impact on humanity. In this role, Hamdallah will lead the development of products and business models that are purpose-built and create positive change through food.

Hamdallah brings more than 20 years of food innovation experience to Clif Bar. This includes his role as Global Chief Innovation Officer at Ocean Spray Cranberries where he has led their Innovation and Research and Development teams to launch wellness-focused products such as the CBD sparkling water beverage, CarryOn, which debuted earlier this year. Hamdallah was also instrumental in the creation of Lighthouse, the company’s innovation incubator.

"Rizal's track record of bold thinking, big ideas and positive impact through food have made him a force in the industry and a perfect fit for our company’s unique Five Aspirations business model,” said Clif Bar CEO, Sally Grimes. “Under Rizal’s leadership, innovation at Clif Bar will accelerate how we redesign the business of food for health, equity and Earth.”

Hamdallah will report directly to Grimes, who was appointed CEO in June 2020. Grimes succeeded company Founder and co-CEOs, Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, who remain on the company’s Board of Directors.

“Joining Clif Bar is a unique opportunity to create meaningful change in the world through food,” said Hamdallah. "I want to grow the company’s legacy of category-defining innovation by developing food that reaches more people, grows the company and increases our positive impact on humanity.”

Prior to Ocean Spray, Hamdallah spearheaded the Innovation Lab at Tyson Foods where he helped shape the company’s investment in plant-based protein and developed a revolutionary new product model for reducing food waste.

Earlier in his career, Hamdallah held positions at leading CPG industry brands, including SC Johnson, Unilever, and Nestlé. True to his passion for innovation, he also founded GetBetty, Inc., a Chicago-based start-up offering on-demand beauty services.

In 2019, Hamdallah was named one of the Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” honorees. He is also a US patent holder for his work on dispenser technology. Hamdallah earned a Master of Product Design and Development Management from Northwestern University.