Executive Bios
Gil Michel-Garcia
President & Chief Executive Officer
Gil oversees all of the activities of Mari's Foods Inc. and is directly in charge of all business development and sales activities. He is one of the founders and controlling shareholders of Mari's Foods Inc.
Gil brings to the company more than eleven years of global corporate legal and business experience. He has worked as a corporate lawyer at leading international law firms in Montreal (Stikeman Elliott LLP), New York and London (Clifford Chance LLP).
Gil's corporate legal and business background includes extensive experience with private debt and equity offerings in the United States, venture capital and private equity transactions, cross-border private M&A transactions and general cross-border commercial and/or business transactions.
Gil holds a B.A. in Economics from McGill University and a Juris Doctor degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law. Gil is a member of the New York Bar and the Barreau du Québec. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
In his spare time, Gil loves to cook and entertain and is a lover of Japanese cuisine and ingredients.
Arabella Decker
Vice President Marketing
Arabella leads all branding and marketing efforts at Mari's Food Inc. She is one of the founders and controlling shareholders of Mari's Foods Inc.
Prior to joining Mari's Foods Inc. as VP Marketing, Arabella worked as an advertising executive at Ogilvy Worldwide (The Ogilvy Group/WPP) in Toronto, New York and London. Arabella brings twelve years of global brand strategy, marketing, communications, activation and sales expertise in consumer packaged goods. She has helped launch, shape and grow local and global brands for clients such as Unilever in Personal Care, and Kraft Foods in the Coffee, Cereal and Beverages categories.
Her successes include the launch of an award-winning Q-tips marketing campaign in Canada. She also participated in the strategic development of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty and implemented the brand's philosophy across Unilever's global hair care business. The Dove campaign has contributed to 20% growth since inception and has earned worldwide recognition.
Arabella holds a B.A. in Economics from McGill University and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in Marketing and International Business. She speaks English, German, French and Spanish fluently.
In her free time, Arabella chairs the Bach Academie de Montreal's Gala Committee, which organizes annual fundraising events in support of the Montreal Bach Festival. She is also an avid traveler and loves, above all, to indulge in Japanese cuisine.
Mari Toyoda
Vice President Operations & Product Development
Mari is one of the founders of Mari's Foods Inc. and the creator of the Wafu® brand of Japanese vinaigrettes. At Mari's Foods Inc., Mari is in charge of day-to-day operations and quality control, as well as product development.
Mari brings with her over 25 years of experience as a Japanese chef. Born in Japan to Japanese restauranteurs, Mari is one of very few officially licensed Japanese chefs (by the City of Tokyo) in Canada.
Since emigrating to Canada in the 1980s, Mari has had her own Japanese restaurant in Montreal and has participated in televised cooking shows on authentic Japanese cuisine. Mari has taught Japanese cooking classes including sushi, traditional, home-style, vegetarian and Zen food and has trained Japanese chefs in the province of Quebec.
In 1999, Mari started her own sushi company, Sushi Mari Toyoda, a producer and distributor of fresh-made sushi to major supermarkets, hotels and banquet halls in Quebec. Sushi Mari Toyoda was the first Canadian company to purchase and implement a Sushi Robot from Japan for its sushi operations, as well as the first to introduce frozen sushi to the Canadian market.
Mari developed Wafu® Original Japanese Vinaigrette as an accompaniment for her sushi offerings and in 2002 Wafu® ORIGINAL won the best new product award in the Canadian Grand Prix of New Products.
Mari holds a B.A. in Economics from Kanto Gakuin University in Yokohama, Japan. She speaks English and Japanese fluently.