Gary Smith

Gary Smith co-founded Encore Consumer Capital in 2005 alongside investors Robert Brown and Scott Sellers, bringing decades of operating experience from the consumer-products and grocery-retail world. Encore was built specifically to help consumer products companies grow, and Smith serves as the firm's operating executive/operating partner — the industry practitioner among the founding team rather than a pure financier.

Before Encore, Smith founded Encore Associates in 2001, a consumer-industry advisory business, after a long career at Safeway. At Safeway he rose to Senior Vice President of Marketing over roughly four decades with the company. During his tenure he helped develop several programs that became industry standards, including Safeway's category-management process, its customer loyalty card, and its premium private-label program. In 1998 he was named the Private Label Manufacturers Association's "Retailer of the Year" for building the Safeway SELECT brand.

In his role at Encore, Smith applies that operating and retail-relationship expertise to portfolio companies, sitting on their boards and helping with go-to-market, retail distribution, and brand strategy. He currently serves as a director of Brownie Brittle, Fantasy Cookie, and Pint Size Hawaii, and has previously been a director of former Encore portfolio companies including Aidells Sausage Company, Caterina Foods, FreshKO, Mesa Foods, and PhillySwirl.

• Invests exclusively in consumer products businesses across eight categories: food, beverage, personal care & beauty, pet products, household products, private label & contract manufacturing, food service & ingredients, and food distribution.
• Targets established, revenue-generating brands ($10M–$150M revenue), not startups — writing $5M–$50M equity checks for majority or significant-minority stakes.
• Backs three primary situations: shareholder liquidity events, growth capital for cash-constrained businesses, and acquisition capital to fund strategic M&A/roll-ups.
• Stated philosophy: *"adding value to our investments is our most important capability."* Encore leans on hands-on operating expertise, industry knowledge, and retail relationships rather than capital alone.
• Smith's personal value-add is retail and marketing: category management, private-label strategy, and grocery/retailer relationships drawn from his Safeway career.