James Hanna, MBA, P.Eng.
Jamie is a graduate of The Royal Military College of Canada (B.Eng. - Chemical) and Queen’s University, Kingston (MBA - Marketing). His professional career has covered 5 years experience in manufacturing/engineering and nearly 20 years in brand marketing, general management and consulting.
Jamie gained a solid grounding in brand management with Procter & Gamble Inc., where he spent 8 years in brand and category management, working in the diaper, fabric softener and soap categories, as well as being part of the National Grocer (Loblaws) Account Management Team. Jamie left P&G to become Division Vice President Private and Control Labels for Sobeys Inc. in Stellarton NS. During his 3 years with Sobeys, Jamie initiated, developed and launched a 2-tier private label program to serve Sobeys’ retail and wholesale needs: a premium tier brand “Our Best” and an everyday value brand “Signal”. These brands were specifically developed for the Atlantic Canada retail market and consumer. Both brands were an immediate hit with Sobeys’ consumers, and served Sobeys well until they were replaced by “Our Compliments” and “Smart Choice” through Sobeys acquisition of Oshawa Foods. As part of this initiative, Jamie established the first quality assurance and food safety program for Sobeys’ private and control labels.
Jamie spent 3 years with Melitta Canada Inc. He joined Melitta as Director of Marketing, Canada, and was elevated to VP Marketing North America. His role and responsibilities led to the resurgence of the Melitta coffee brand in Canada and a new consumer-based focus in the US. As a result, Jamie was promoted to President and CEO of Melitta Canada Inc. During his tenure, Melitta was returned to share growth, developing a significant niche in the coffee retail market by becoming a retailer profit brand in their coffee category portfolio.
Jamie has worked with Brand Strategy Consultants and Tom Stephens on a wide variety of projects. In partnership with Tom, Jamie was one of the shareholders in The Epicurean Odyssey Corporation, a company started to deliver quality lifestyle television programming, which include the food travelogue program “Taste of Life” (109 episodes of Taste of Life are being aired in 14 different countries). Jamie further augmented his marketing experience by working with Consumer Impact Marketing in a 7 month stint as their Director of Client Services on the field marketing side, working with such clients as Pepsi, Frito Lay, Microsoft, MuchMusic and Fujifilm.