Brynwood Partners Names Doug Gillespie President and CEO of Harvest Hill Beverage Company

363939GREENWICH, Conn., May 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Brynwood Partners VII L.P. announced today that it has appointed Doug Gillespie President and Chief Executive Officer of Harvest Hill Beverage Company, a Brynwood Partners majority-owned portfolio company that has quickly become one of the largest independently owned beverage companies in the U.S. with brands such as Juicy Juice, Little Hug and Daily’s. Gillespie, a 25-year veteran of consumer-facing businesses, joins the company from Jarden Corporation, where he served as President of Jarden Home and Family North America. Earlier in his career, Gillespie also held senior leadership positions at consumer packaged goods companies, including Frito-Lay, Brown-Forman and Munchkin.

“Doug brings the senior management experience and leadership qualities that will enable us to maximize the Harvest Hill opportunity,” said Henk Hartong, Chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners. “Doug has an impressive record of growing businesses with a focus on innovation and marketing in the very consumer segments and customer channels that are important to Harvest Hill.”

Harvest Hill has already seen success with its reinvigoration of the Juicy Juice brand, launching new Juicy Juice products such as Juicy Juice Splashers and Juicy Juice Teasers as well as a national advertising campaign supporting the brand. Following the acquisition of American Beverage Corporation a year ago, Harvest Hill has also launched a variety of new products and flavors to revitalize the Little Hug and Daily’s product lines.

“Harvest Hill is a leading player with iconic brands in multiple beverage segments, providing a wealth of growth opportunities for the company,” commented Gillespie. “The team has already created significant marketplace momentum that we can use to take the business to the next level.”

Gillespie will be based at the Harvest Hill headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The company has approximately 400 employees across its national operations.

About Harvest Hill Beverage Company:

Harvest Hill Beverage Company, based in Stamford, Conn., was formed by Brynwood Partners VII L. P. in June 2014 to acquire the iconic Juicy Juice brand from Nestlé USA, Inc. Juicy Juice is the largest 100% juice brand in the U.S. and is focused on the children’s segment. The company markets Juicy Juice products in single-serve and multi-serve formats to the retail and foodservice channels. In March 2015, Harvest Hill acquired American Beverage Corporation from Wessanen, a publicly-traded food and beverage company based in Holland. With the American Beverage Corporation acquisition, Harvest Hill added the Little Hug juice drink brand and Daily’s cocktail brand. The company intends to grow both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions. For more information on Harvest Hill, please visit www.harvesthill.com.

About Brynwood Partners:

Brynwood Partners, founded in 1984 and based in Greenwich, Conn., is an operationally-focused private equity firm that makes control investments in North American-based lower middle market companies in the consumer sector. Brynwood Partners currently manages more than $700 million of private equity capital for its limited partners, which include U.S. and international pension funds, funds-of-funds, endowments, high net worth family investment offices and institutions. For more information on Brynwood Partners, please visit www.brynwoodpartners.com.