Leadership

Mr. Toler has served as our Chairman of our board of directors since January 1, 2019. He served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer from January 1, 2019 until January 1, 2025, and then once again assumed the CEO role commencing December 1, 2025. Prior to joining Hydrofarm in 2019, Mr. Toler was the Chief Executive Officer of Hostess Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWNK) (‘‘Hostess’’), a food and beverage company, from May 2014 to March 2018. Under his leadership, Hostess successfully re-established the iconic Hostess brand as a leader within the sweet baked goods category, returned the company to profitability and transitioned Hostess from a private to public company. Mr. Toler has over 35 years of executive leadership experience in supply chain management and consumer packaged goods, including previously having served as Chief Executive Officer of AdvancePierre Foods, from September 2008 to August 2013, and President of Pinnacle Foods. He has also held executive roles at Campbell Soup Company, Nabisco and Procter & Gamble. Mr. Toler served on the board of directors of Collier Creek Holdings from September 2018 to September 2020, Hostess Brands from May 2014 to March 2018, AdvancePierre Foods from 2008 to 2013 and Pinnacle Foods from 2007 to 2008. In addition, Mr. Toler has also served as a senior advisor at Oaktree Capital Management, an investment management firm, from September 2013 to April 2014. Mr. Toler holds a B.A. in Business Management and Economics from North Carolina State University. Mr. Toler was selected to serve as Chairman of our board of directors because of his 35 years of executive leadership experience in supply chain management and consumer packaged goods.

Mr. O’Brien has served as our Chief Financial Officer since January 2025. Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. O’Brien had served as the Company’s Chief Accounting Officer since March 2022. Prior to joining Hydrofarm, Mr. O’Brien served as the Chief Accounting Officer of CPI Card Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PMTS) since April 2018. Mr. O’Brien previously served as the Director of Corporate Accounting and SEC Reporting at the same company from March 2016 until April 2018. Mr. O’Brien has over 20 years of accounting experience, including serving as a Senior Audit Manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Mr. O’Brien is a Colorado Certified Public Accountant and received a Bachelor of Science in Business with an emphasis in Accounting from University of Colorado and a Master of Science with an emphasis in Accounting from the same institution.

Mr. Parker has served as our President since January 2025. Previously, Mr. Parker had served as the Company’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development since February 2022. Mr. Parker has over 30 years of experience in sales and marketing, and leading complex integration projects in multiple industries, in particular with consumer packaging goods. From May 2019 until February 2022, Mr. Parker served as the Company’s Senior Vice President of Business Development. Prior to joining Hydrofarm, Mr. Parker was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of iQ Solutions, where he spent nine years assisting organizations in commercialization efforts focused on sales and marketing. Mr. Parker also previously served as Senior Vice President of Trade Marketing, U.S. Soup Division, for Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB), where he introduced innovative initiatives as “Soup to Go” (convenience in a package) and iQ Shelf, an in-store approach to simplify consumer shopping experience and drive mutual share growth. Mr. Parker holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Wingate University.

Ms. Ackerman has served as our Chief Accounting Officer since January 2025 and our Corporate Controller since March 2023, prior to which she served as Assistant Controller beginning in March 2021. Prior to joining Hydrofarm, Ms. Ackerman spent over 14 years at McKesson Corporation, including as Director of Global Corporate Reporting from June 2018 to July 2020 and as Senior Manager of Technical Accounting from January 2013 to June 2018. Ms. Ackerman is a California Certified Public Accountant and earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Washington Foster School of Business.