AeroFarms Appoints Gary M. Cohen as Chief Revenue Officer

Brings a proven track record of delivering positive economic, social and environmental impact

On Apr 6, 2021

AeroFarms, a certified B Corporation and leader in vertical farming based in Newark, announced that Gary M. Cohen has joined the company as chief revenue officer. In his role as CRO, Cohen will lead farm development and business growth initiatives including the commercialization of new product categories.

Among his responsibilities, Cohen will lead commercialization planning around the new multi-year blueberry and caneberry partnership with Hortifrut S.A., a certified B Corporation in Chile and a global business leader in berries. AeroFarms utilizes a data science driven platform approach to optimize quality and reduce costs. Having grown over 50 different types of berries to date, AeroFarms has developed methods of growing berries with a higher sweetness than industry averages.

“Gary is a strong believer in social impact, innovation and the power of businesses like AeroFarms to solve the world’s most challenging problems, and brings decades of proven experience building important partnerships globally to accomplish just that. We are excited to announce his appointment to our robust leadership team,” said David Rosenberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of AeroFarms. “We believe our technology is poised to make a global impact, and Gary brings the global perspective and a genuine focus on bettering the world that will make him incredibly effective in his role.”

“AeroFarms is truly transforming agriculture through sustainably grown and nutritious pesticide-free food. These capabilities will drive positive economic, social and environmental impact in the years to come,” said Cohen. “AeroFarms is a force for good – I’m inspired by its mission and look forward to contributing to our global growth and expansion into new product categories.”

Cohen joins AeroFarms after 37 years at BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a medical technology company where he served as a member of the BD Executive Leadership Team and a Corporate Officer since 1996. Most recently, he served as executive vice president for Global Health and president of the BD Foundation, where he leveraged the skills, efficiency and innovation competencies of the business sector to collaborate with international agencies, governments and non-government organizations to strengthen health systems and tackle some of the world’s most challenging health needs and problems, in areas such as safe childhood immunization, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and maternal and newborn health.

Cohen previously served as executive vice president for International Operations at BD, where he had commercial leadership responsibility for all of the company’s regional and country organizations. Prior to that position, he was executive vice president of the Medical Segment of BD, with responsibility for about half of the company’s global business revenues.

Cohen also serves as a board director of UNICEF USA, board co-chair of GBCHealth and chair of the Corporate/CDC Roundtable on Global Health Threats. He is the founder of several social enterprises, such as Together for Girls, a partnership of UN agencies, the governments of the U.S. and Canada, and the national governments of 23 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America and the Caribbean to end sexual violence against children. He also founded the Antimicrobial Resistance Fighter Coalition to combat the massive threat of “superbugs” resistant to antibiotics and other commonly used medications, and the Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation to educate business school students on how to embed positive social impact into their leadership agendas and strategies.

Cohen holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University, and previously served on the university’s board of trustees.

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