Rude Health was founded by Nick and Camilla Barnard in 2005, is based in London and Amsterdam. Smith, who in his previous role spearheaded the growth of domestic cleaning brands Ecover and method, has experience launching and scaling premium challenger brands in the UK & Europe.
He started his career at Accenture before taking on commercial roles at L’Oreal UK and joining method, when it first launched in Europe in the late noughties. During his 12 years at People Against Dirty he led the European team as the business went through a period of rapid growth, ballooning from a turnover of £3m to £100m.
Rude Health said he had been appointed has been appointed to help achieve its ambition of becoming the UK’s leading plant based and dairy-free brand.
£20m+ turnover business
"Rude Health are ready and brilliantly positioned for further growth," said Smith, who will join the business at the end of this month. "In 16 years, Rude Health has grown from a kitchen table start-up to a £20m+ turnover business."
His appointment enabled the Barnards to concentrate on their role as advisors and mentors to the team of 45 employees, according to the company.
The Barnards said: "When we first founded Rude Health, we would have never imagined being at the stage we are now. We’re a small team, with a big mission to make the healthy choice a celebration, not a sacrifice."
B Corp-certified
The appointment comes months after the firm launched its first mass-reach, multi-channel marketing campaign, reaching 17m consumers. Earlier this year also became a B Corp-certified company and gained a new listing with Tesco, with the launch of its naturally fortified chilled dairy-free drinks range.
Rude Health is based in London and Amsterdam and sells more than 70 foods and drinks in 45 countries, including plant-based milk alternatives, breakfast cereals, snacks and flours.
