David George-Cosh

Reporter

Follow|Archive

Canopy Growth Corp. said Monday two top executives have left the company, as part of a management shakeup led by the cannabis producer’s new chief executive who is looking to put his own mark on the pot giant.

A spokesperson from the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company said that Andre Fernandez, its chief operating officer, and Dave Bigioni, the chief commercial officer, have mutually agreed to exit the company. 

"Canopy has engaged an executive search firm to fill the roles of COO and CCO to lead the business forward," said Jordan Sinclair, vice president of communications at Canopy Growth, in an email to BNN Bloomberg. 

Sinclair declined to specify why both executives left the company. Bigioni declined to comment and Fernandez didn't immediately reply to BNN Bloomberg’s request for comment. 

However, in a LinkedIn post published late Monday, Fernandez, who was one of the first 200 employees at the company, said it was "time to move on" after spending nearly five years at Canopy. 

A person directly familiar with the matter said that Fernandez submitted his resignation earlier this year, but continued with Canopy to help ensure several projects were completed before he officially stepped down. 

Fernandez, who previously worked at Fiat Chrysler as an analyst, was in charge of Canopy's supply chain operations. In one Instagram post, he described how his team "chartered everything from 757s to armoured vehicles to sled doggies to get legal cannabis to every province in Canada." 

Bigioni, meanwhile, served as vice president at Molson Coors Beverage Co. until 2017 when he joined Canopy to lead the company's sales and marketing operations. Canopy's marketing department was hard-hit last month when 200 people were let go from the company amid an ongoing strategic review aimed at refocusing its broader business and cutting costs.​

The two departures are among the latest moves conducted under the watch of David Klein, the former Constellation Brands Inc. financial chief who took the helm at Canopy in January. 

Since he was appointed CEO, Klein has conducted a company-wide strategic review which has so far resulted in the layoffs of roughly 800 workers, the closure of two giant greenhouses in British Columbia, and the suspension of international ventures in Colombia, Africa, and New York state.

All told, Canopy said it expects to take a charge of up to $800 million when it releases its next quarterly financial results on May 29.