Following a report that cannabis sales increased 49% year-over-year to $37.4 million, which Village Farms International's (NASDAQ:VFF) president and CEO Michael DeGiglio called "an especially strong start" to the new fiscal year, the company announced it is making changes to strengthen its board of directors.

See also: Village Farms International Cannabis Company Back In NASDAQ's Good Graces

New Board Addition

Carolyn Hauger, who brings extensive finance, operations and public company director experience, joined Village' Farms board effective immediately and will stand for election at the company's annual shareholders meeting slated to take place next month.

Having served as CFO for a variety of companies during her career, Hauger contributed to operational optimization, innovation strategies and early-stage development. Her experience includes both multi-national and emerging growth industries.

She previously worked at Lion, Inc. as CFO, and was divisional CFO and senior vice president at Clopay Plastics – a subsidiary of Griffon Corporation.

Hauger was an advisory senior manager in the performance improvement practice at Ernst and Young, advising C-level executives on optimizing production. She also held various executive finance and operations positions over a 25-year tenure with Procter and Gamble.

"With broad-based expertise in financial strategy and business building, alongside decades of consumer-packaged goods, international and start-up experience, her insight and perspective will be of tremendous benefit to Village Farms," John McLernon, chairman of the board of Village Farms said of Hauger, who oversees finance department at Ten-Nine Technologies, a battery nanotechnology additives company.

She also holds the position of an independent director and audit chair for Jericho Energy Ventures (TSX:JEV) and holds advisory board positions with Prestige Properties Management, LLC and Metal Resource Solutions, Inc.

Now read: Canadian Cannabis Companies Could See Valuations Soar By Up To 300% With Tax Reform, New Report Shows

Focus On Legal Cannabis Opportunities In Europe

Meanwhile, DeGiglio, who has spoken at previous Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conferences, recently celebrated Germany's historic step towards cannabis legalization and the company's efforts to expand internationally.

The 19th Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, is returning to Chicago this Oct. 8-9. Get your tickets now before prices surge by following this link.

Why?

"Village Farms has a strong link to the German market, having received our EU GMP certification from the District Government of Dusseldorf in 2022," DeGiglio said earlier. "We began shipping our best-selling Canadian strains to Germany in the second quarter of 2023 and have been adding both local distributors and revenues since then. The German cannabis market is already core to Village Farms' international cannabis strategy and, along with our participation in the Netherlands' legal recreational cannabis program, central to our focus on legal cannabis opportunities in Europe."

Approvals from both the German Bundesrat and Bundestag legalized the possession of marijuana in Germany as of April 1.

VFF Price Action

Village Farms' shares traded 0.1905% higher at $1.2624 per share at the time of writing on Monday morning.