Mr. Anthony Smaré, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Paradise Company Ltd., the holding company for Paradise Foods Limited, PNG’s oldest established food manufacturing business in PNG, and Laga Industries Limited, PNG’s leading ice cream and cooking oil manufacturer and distributor, announced the appointment of Mr. James Rice as Group Chief Executive Officer of Paradise Company Limited.
Mr. Smaré said that Paradise Company Limited had become a significantly larger diversified food business after the acquisition of Laga Industries Limited in 2018, and needed the right leader with appropriate leadership traits to develop and lead the team of the diversified organisation as it continued to grow. “After a rigorous international search process, James Rice had been selected from a strong international list of candidates who had CEO experience leading diversified food and manufacturing businesses in developing countries. James brings a deep industry knowledge of manufacturing, supply chain distribution and earnings growth and with his experience producing positive impactful results for FMCG organizations around the world is well qualified for the role as CEO of Paradise Company Limited. We are delighted that James has accepted the challenge of coming to PNG and building a truly world class diversified food business at Paradise Company Limited.”
Mr. Rice stated “I am honoured and grateful for the opportunity to lead this exceptional, world-class food and beverage organization, as well as its group of dedicated employees. Paradise Foods & Laga has an incredibly talented and devoted team focused on creating the highest quality, diverse product base available anywhere,” said Rice. “I am confident that together as a team, we will progress forward by focusing on our diverse product offerings and our customers, which at the same time will create additional opportunities for the Paradise workforce and our loyal network of local PNG suppliers.”
Rice comes to Paradise Company Ltd., from the United States, where he was CEO of Solaris Paper, Inc., a privately held Away-From-Home and retail tissue corporation, which he grew by 50% in two and a half years. Previously, he was Vice President of Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the largest integrated pulp and paper companies in the world. He also spent several years in China, where he headed up Shui Jing Fang, a 600-year-old premium Chinese liquor company and was also President of Tyson Foods’ country-wide China operations, where he built the business from US$5 million to over US$500 million in 5 years. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has relocated to Port Moresby in June to assume his new role.
