Fiji Kava Ltd has announced the appointment of Jack Lowenstein to its board as a non-executive director effective immediately.
Fiji Kava is an Australian-Fijian medicinal kava health and wellness company that produces natural kava products for the complementary and alternative medicine market,
A statement from the company stated that Mr Lowenstein was an experienced business builder and ASX listed company director, who also had a long corporate history in Fiji where he was the co-founder of the country’s first investment bank, Kontiki Capital Ltd.
Kontiki Capital is the manager of the Kinetic Growth Fund, which was a pre-IPO investor in Fiji Kava as well as at the IPO and in subsequent capital raisings. Mr Lowenstein is a director and shareholder in Kinetic and has invested in Fiji Kava both pre and post IPO.
Mr Lowenstein is presently a director of ASX listed Morphic Ethical Equities Fund Ltd, which is managed by Morphic Asset Management, which he co-founded in 2012.
Prior to establishing Morphic, Mr Lowenstein spent 14 years with global stock investor Hunter Hall International, where he rose to become deputy chairman of the ASX listed parent company and a director of Hunter Hall Global Value Ltd.
Fiji Kava chairman Dr Andrew Kelly said: “As we continue our journey as a listed company, it’s important that we add to the strength of our Board to ensure Fiji Kava realises its investment potential.”
He said Mr Lowenstein brought extensive experience and the contacts in investment, finance and business growth that they would need as a listed company in the future.
“We are continually searching for opportunities to add the right people and capabilities to the Fiji Kava Board, with this our second new appointment since IPO less than two years ago.”
In the statement, Mr Lowenstein said: “I look forward to joining Fiji Kava to help build on the ground breaking work that has already been done by the board and executive team to build a truly vertical supply chain and deep distribution channels into the likes of Australian giant Coles and other retailers.”
“Fiji Kava can truly claim its ethical credentials by bringing much-needed wealth to rural Fiji and the Fijian economy as a whole, while giving the western consumer a natural solution to the benzodiazepine crisis that is rocking the world.
“As a kava consumer myself, I see a terrific opportunity to do global distribution deals, open up new markets, build a robust ingredients and branded business and pioneer new product development.”
