The company, which includes Reed’s Ginger Brew, Virgil’s Soda in its brand portfolio, has been mired in controversy over the composition of its Board since August, when a group of activist investors, calling themselves The Committee to Rescue Reed’s, formed to pressure CEO Chris Reed into accepting changes to the board’s personnel.
This week the conflict took a more personal turn, with the dissident stockholders’ committee leader, Edwin Lozano, and Reed each questioning the other’s professional backgrounds, and a former board member who had tried to mediate the dispute joining Lozano’s faction.
Mr. Jaffe is considered an “independent” director and will serve on the board until the 2016 annual meeting where he will be a candidate on the slate of directors being presented by the Company to all shareholders.
Speaking with BevNET after the earnings call, Reed said that four independent board members with expertise in marketing, supply chain, governance and finance, respectively, would be announced in about a week and a half.
COCO5 today announced new distribution of its all-natural flavored coconut water beverages in 415 Target stores across the U.S. Meanwhile, premium soda and kombucha maker Reed’s, Inc. announced that its Reed’s Ginger Brew products are now available in 1,335 Target stores throughout the country.
Famous for building SoBe and selling it to Pepsi for close to $400M, Bello is one of two or three potential strategic additions to the board that Reed is hoping will help him hold off a new slate of directors: activist investors met with the ginger brew and root beer maker on Monday, he said, discussing their own slate of board members.
A longtime veteran of the food and beverage industry, Sarah Bird takes the reins from Bhakti founder Brook Eddy, who now serves as chairwoman of the company’s board of directors. Eddy remains “involved in the vision, innovation and culture” of Bhakti, according to the company.
Lenore has a 50+ year track record of distributing leading brands such as Vita Coco, Sparkling Ice, Body Armor and Snapple in the greater San Diego market.
Stater Bros. is the largest privately-owned supermarket chain in Southern California with annual sales of nearly $4 billion, over 18,000 employees and 168 locations.
Fourth quarter preliminary sales increased 12.8 percent to a quarterly record $12.4 million compared to last year’s fourth quarter sales of $11.0 million.
With over 75 years of experience, DP has developed relationships with the world’s premier brands including Coca-Cola, Campbell’s, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and P&G, providing direct-to-store distribution throughout Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central and South America.
RBI recently began distribution of Reed’s brands throughout northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma, carrying ten SKUs of Reed’s and Virgil’s flavors to start.
Wonderland Distributing Co. was founded 65 years ago and currently represents an extensive portfolio of brands including headliners Miller Coors, Heineken, Guinness and Gallo wine and spirits, along with craft brews including Lost Coast, Eel River, Mendocino and Dogfish Head.
All of the nearly 4,600 Rite Aid stores across the US will feature 16oz bottles of delicious, all-natural Sonoma Sparklers in three flavors: Sparkling Organic Raspberry, Sparkling Organic Lemonade and Sparkling Organic Peach.
