Freedom Leaf, Inc. Appoints David Vautrin, VP of Sales of Origin House, to Board of Directors

LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan. 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Freedom Leaf, Inc. (OTCQB: FRLF), (the “Company”), parent company of leading CBD health and wellness brands ,  and , today announced the appointment of David Vautrin to its Board of Directors.

Mr. Vautrin brings invaluable beverage and cannabis expertise to the Board of Directors. He has a successful track record in privately held and publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, as well as ownership and leadership in mid-cap and emerging growth organizations.

Mr. Vautrin is currently the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at , (formerly known as CannaRoyalty), where he has worked since March 2017. Origin House provides investors unique access to diverse, high potential, growth-ready assets in North America’s emerging cannabis market. Origin House’s California distribution business has state-wide dispensary coverage, over 100 employees, 8 licenses, 5 facilities, 20+ delivery trucks and 25+ brand partners. Mr. Vautrin is leveraging his prior expertise in operations, branding, post-merger integration, marketing, product commercialization and sales development skills. 

He recently completed a two-year stint as an Independent Director of  New Age Beverage is a healthy functional beverage company with a large portfolio of beverage brands sold in approximately 60 countries and domestically across retail and convenience stores. While on the Board of Directors, he served on the audit committee and led the compensation committee for that company. During his tenure, the company successfully up-listed from the OTC to the NASDAQ exchange, raised over $100M, acquired 5 companies, 4 brands, 11 patents, established robust governance, and exponentially increased the liquidity of its stock while significantly expanding the company’s market capitalization.

Since January 2009, Mr. Vautrin has been serving as a strategic advisor to DBC, a $40M+ branded consumer goods company whose primary brand Pirouline® Rolled Wafer product is sold in approximately 30 countries and domestically, across retail channels including grocery, drug, export, value, e-commerce, food service and specialty distributors.

Mr. Vautrin has also held other senior level positions, including CEO of Throwdown Industries Holdings from May 2009 to December 2016 and Senior Vice President of Cott Corporation from May 2007 to August 2008. He is a graduate of The State University of New York, Plattsburgh with a degree in business administration.  

Clifford J Perry, the Company’s CEO, noted: “We are very excited that Dave is joining the Freedom Leaf Board. He brings a deep reservoir of experience in CPG sales, marketing and branding that will be invaluable as Freedom Leaf evolves into a leading CBD health and wellness brand provider.” 

Mr. Vautrin commented: “I am pleased to join the Board of Directors at Freedom Leaf and am confident that my cannabis and beverage experience with Origin House and New Age Beverages, coupled with my 20+ years of sales and marketing leadership experience, will enable me to be a significant contributor to Freedom Leaf’s growth in the years to come. I find the hemp beverage opportunity within the mass market particularly exciting given my extensive expertise in building beverage start-ups to multi-billion-dollar businesses.”

About Freedom Leaf, Inc.®

 (OTCQB: FRLF) is a diversified, global leader in plant-based care providing premium Hemp CBD health products across advanced care, consumer and pet markets to promote greater health, wellness and longevity.  FRLF is a clean health company establishing a new standard in care with plant-based products designed to naturally restore, revitalize and strengthen bodies and minds.  FRLF’s consumer promise of “your health first” underscores its universal commitment to produce premium quality HEMP CBD health products. 

FRLF is a diverse enterprise of branded business lines dedicated to meeting the needs of people who face health challenges and those who are healthy. Freedom Leaf Leafceuticals is the company’s most advanced product line for health care practitioners, caregivers and patients.  IrieCBD and Hempology are the company’s flagship lines of premium full spectrum Hemp CBD products rich in CBD’s, terpenes and flavonoids integrated with potent health botanicals.

For over 30 years, the founders of FRLF fought for citizen rights to access plant-based care and pioneered premium hemp health products as a first step to clean health. Today, FRLF produces premium hemp products from seed to shelf using proprietary, science-backed formulations and rigorous product testing. FRLF is a socially conscious, vertically integrated company maintaining the highest standards in quality and safety, with a focus on continual innovation to deliver ever-better plant-based care products.

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