OUR STORY
The Sorrisa Group is a privately held Company created in 2017 out of a passion for exciting fun food. Sorrisa is Italian for “smile”, and this is the reaction we generate from retailers and consumers when we share the results of our focus on the development and manufacture of innovative and unique products. Our team has established a track record of conceptualizing, creating and delivering the products that consumers love.
With our passion and experience in product development, sales, marketing and manufacturing we have proven that we can bring new and exciting products to market! Our first product launch, an exciting new branded ice cream product, was an instant success that disrupted the category, expanding sales and margins retailers while dazzling consumers across North America.
Cutting-edge research and development is leading to unique products to fulfill the needs created as nutrition trends evolve.
Above all else, we build relationships. Our relationships with North American retail customers are powered by co-designing, co-innovating, and collaborating to build private label and national branded products that deliver expanded productivity of shelf sets. We partner with retailers to drive successful launches and programming tailored to the shopper, the shopper’s mission, and the retailer’s strategic goals. Our relationships enable success!
SAM JAAFAR
CEO & OWNER
Sam worked for over a decade with a food manufacturer in Toronto, focused on building sales. As a high integrity sales professional possessing a strong work ethic, he was able to achieve exceptional results for the company. Sam is now focused on building the Sorrisa Group as the CEO/ Owner while looking to disrupt the packaged foods industry with innovative and exciting product offerings.
Sam is driven, focused and uses his professional sales acumen to service his clients well. He loves leading the Sorrisa Group Team and promises to deliver outstanding results in the North American market.
MEET THE TEAM
Rory Lesperance
Interim C.O.O
Rory has enjoyed a career that spans nearly 40 years in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry. He has led sales teams at Coca-Cola Ltd. Canada, Small Fry Snack Foods, Nabisco Ltd and Kraft Canada. He has enjoyed General Manager roles at Coca-Cola Ltd. and Canada Bread Company Ltd, where he retired as a Senior Vice President of the Company.
He formed The Blueglass Consulting Group in 2012 and successfully developed businesses and leadership capabilities of many clients. His experience developing businesses in the USA and Canada, and his knowledge of both markets from a strategic and tactical perspective will serve the Sorrisa Group well.
Stefan Anderson
Director of Sales Operations
Stefan has 10 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry in field sales and operations, namely in beverage and bakery categories.
He has led teams in logistics and sales planning. His skill set includes enterprise wide demand planning and forecasting, sales operations & planning, customer management and product development.
Stefan is organizationally agile and has an industrious work ethic. He is always committed to driving customer value.
Randy Scott
Administration Manager
Randy brings over 40 years experience of bakery and retail in the food retail industry to the Sorrisa Group team.
His meticulous attention to detail helps the group go from A to B and beyond.
Majdi Alali
Accounting
Majdi is dedicated to the business’s financial vision. He is skilled at developing a solid business plan to align with the company’s objectives and is a master at ensuring records are up to date and error-free.
Rose Sakho
Key Accounts Manager USA
Rose is a passionate Account Manager with over 20 years of experience in the food and financial industry.
Being a driven individual, she thrives by being challenged and solving multiple problems at the same time.
Tom Bly
Key Accounts Manager Canada
Tom provides over 40 years of retail experience in the fast moving consumer packaged goods industry. His experience as a National Account Manager at Cadbury -Trebor -Allan , Swiss Natural Sources , Hain -Celestial and Naturally Homegrown Foods has enabled Tom to develop the necessary skills required to create innovative new paths of distribution in both traditional grocery channels as well as in the natural channel. These skills will be valuable addition to the Sorrisa Group team.
Juliana Sepranza
Design & Social Media Manager
A well rounded and driven multidisciplinary artist, who currently reached the title of Sr. Graphic Designer. Able to manage tasks and responsibilities unsupervised and take initiative to create new solutions.
Her overall strength is Marketing - creating seamless and strong platforms for companies to take their Marketing to the next level. Through a variety of skill sets she is able to help Sorrisa Group Inc stand out and achieve set goals.
Larissa Korkina
Technical Services Manager
Larissa manages regulatory affairs and compliance at Sorrisa Group Inc. She has a seasoned knowledge of product technicalities in consumer packaged goods.
Mary Maurini
Sales
Mary helps drive Sorrisa Group sales in Canada. Mary has many years of experience in servicing major retailers and supporting them with outstanding products that give the consumer delicious taste adventures.
She brings her personality and experience to Sorrisa Group and is helping to develop new and amazing brands and delivering even more innovative products to the marketplace.
Arash Behravan
Business & IT Consultant
Arash Behravan brings over 20 years of experience leveraging technology solutions and data analysis to empower and support strategic management and business operations.
His extensive experience working with the food manufacturing industry combined with his breadth of knowledge and expertise in designing and deploying data systems are a strong asset to Sorrisa’s business intelligence.