PLANO, Texas, US – NuZee, Inc., a leading U.S. producer and co-packer of specialty single serve pour-over coffee pouches and pour over drip cups, has announced that Tomoko Toyota has joined NuZee as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Ms. Toyota brings to NuZee over two decades of marketing leadership experience developing global brand and business strategies, with more than 10 years in the coffee industry leading market expansion of specialty coffee products, including single serve coffee.
During her 13-year tenure at the Starbucks® Coffee Company between 2005 and 2018, Ms. Toyota held several senior level positions including director of global product innovation and director of integrated marketing. Most recently, she was in charge of brand strategy and integrated marketing at the Brooks® Running Company.
Tomoko Toyota said, “Single serve pour over coffee is one of the best ways to enjoy fresh coffee at home and I am excited to have the opportunity to share and expand that coffee experience with coffee drinkers in the United States and around the world.”
While at Starbucks, Toyota was part of the team responsible for launching and managing the Starbucks Origami™ single serve pour-over coffee products, which are widely available in stores throughout Japan. As director of global product innovation with Starbucks, Ms. Toyota led white space innovation for global ready-to-drink products and supported development for various ready to drink and packaged coffee products in China Asia Pacific as well as the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets. In her time at Starbucks, Ms. Toyota also led integrated marketing for the U.S. consumer packaged goods (CPG) business as well as Seattle’s Best Coffee™, giving her a solid foundation for coffee brand management in the United States.
Masa Higashida, President and CEO of NuZee, said, “Tomoko is a great industry leader who has a deep understanding of our pour over co-packing business and strategies to grow the company. I am impressed by her passion for the coffee industry and am excited for the positive growth we expect she will bring to the company. We believe her understanding of both the US & International markets makes her the perfect fit for our team.”
