ACG SF | A Taste of Innovation: Exclusive Torani Experience with CEO & CFO

Melanie’s mantra is “Grow, baby, grow!” That’s exactly what she’s done for over three decades as Torani’s first outside CEO. Driven by her expertise in organizational development and scaling social impact companies, Melanie has grown the business by an average of 20% per year during her tenure. She is especially passionate about Torani’s purpose of “Flavor for All, Opportunity for All.” It’s a palpable part of the culture, with a focus on building opportunity – economic and learning, development & growth – for their internal team, customers, and within the community.

Melanie’s at home in all parts of the business, whether it's diving deep into brand discussions with marketing and sales, hashing out plans with finance to fuel the company's hyper growth, taste-testing every new flavor in the R&D lab, or walking the production floor. Melanie loves that Torani’s products help people to connect -- in cafes, restaurants, and homes around the globe. She is deeply committed to building an organization that creates value and positive impact for all stakeholders, and their B Corp certification pushes Melanie and the entire Torani Team to expand its impact every day.

Melanie earned a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She continues to work closely with both of her alma maters by supporting Cal’s Opportunity Lab in research on income inequality and is a favorite speaker at Stanford.

She happily serves on the Boards of Torani and SHE-CAN (Supporting Her Education – Changes A Nation), mentoring and supporting young women from Guatemala, Rwanda, and Cambodia. During her down time, Melanie enjoys art, live music, traveling to learn about new cultures, and sharing good food around the table with family and friends. Melanie resides in her hometown of San Francisco.

Scott Triou knows that healthy company growth means more opportunity for Torani, its customers and its team, and he is all in.

In 2007, Scott joined Torani as Chief Financial Officer and set out to build the financial infrastructure that would chart Torani’s course for healthy growth in the years ahead. Scott’s efforts have enabled Torani to increase revenue 12-fold and profitability 60-fold over the past 16 years, and he is just getting started.

Scott responsibilities include leading Torani’s long-range financial planning and managing financial risks and opportunities. He also leads Torani’s growing IT function which is responsible for integrating complex new technologies on the shop floor to Oracle EBS and supporting Torani’s ecommerce expansion. He also plays a pivotal role developing the company’s long-term facility and capital investment planning which resulted in the expansion to its new Flavor Factory and will soon include additional Torani sites. 

In 2018, Scott joined Torani’s board of directors where he brings his deep financial acumen, a consistent long-term business view and financial responsibility perspective.

Prior to joining Torani, Scott held a variety of key financial and operational positions at E&J Gallo Winery, including leading the company’s European finance and operations teams. He has an MBA from the University of San Diego, a B.S. in Laser Optics from the University of Rochester and served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy.  Together with his wife, Kathleen, Scott loves to enjoy Torani Smoked Black Cherry Manhattans. 

Monika started her career as an auditor in public accounting in 1996. She has extensive experience working with manufacturing, retail and e-commerce entities, food & beverage companies, non-profit organizations, and employee benefit plans. Monika serves as the engagement leader for audit and review engagements for middle market, privately held companies working closely with her clients in implementing internal control recommendations, application of new accounting policies and technical guidance, and best practices in financial reporting. Monika joined the firm in 2024. Prior to joining the firm, she spent 8 years with a Big Four firm and 14 years with a national CPA firm.