Carlsbad, Calif. – April 18, 2007 – The Penta Water Company, maker of Penta, a leading premium bottled water brand in the natural foods channel, announced the appointment of Dennis F. O’Brien to the company’s leadership team as chief executive officer. Mr. O’Brien most recently served as president and chief operating officer with ConAgra Foods and brings more than 20 years of experience in the packaged food and beverage industry.
“Mr. O’Brien possesses a successful record of building and revitalizing brands,” said Bill Holloway, founder of Penta Water. “Our vision for Penta is to become the premier, premium, healthful water brand. The board believes that Mr. O’Brien is well positioned to help us meet that goal.”
Prior to his tenure at ConAgra Foods, Inc., Mr. O’Brien held positions at The Campbell’s Soup Company, Nestle Foods and Procter and Gamble. As vice president of Campbell’s, Mr. O’Brien was instrumental in building and revitalizing the V-8 business as well as extending the brand to other healthy refreshment products. At Nestle, Mr. O’Brien led the new venture team that developed and commercialized Nestea ready-to-drink iced tea. Mr. O’Brien began his career at Procter and Gamble.
Mr. O’Brien said he was attracted to the company because he views Penta as a functionally superior product that can make a positive difference in people’s lives. “As consumers realize all bottled water products are not the same, we have a terrific opportunity to build a differentiated, value-added brand by effectively communicating Penta’s superior purity and hydration benefits and then building consumer awareness, trial and brand loyalty. As we continue to build the Penta brand, its premium pricing provides an opportunity for our retail partners to build category profitability and margin.”
David Perez, local entrepreneur and a major investor, also expressed his excitement about the hiring of Mr. O’Brien. “We made our decision based on his depth of experience as a high-energy leader who can drive Penta ahead in the competitive world of bottled water,” said Perez, who played a critical role during the last few months in attracting additional capital and management resources to Penta.
The hiring of Mr. O’Brien is the latest in a string of strategic moves that clearly reinforces a continued commitment to growing the Penta brand. In November of 2006, The Penta Water Company streamlined its sales organization and began a partnership with The Touch Agency, a sales and marketing firm specializing in accelerating the growth of natural foods brands. In addition, the company’s board of directors has been bolstered by the addition of WD-40 Chief Executive Officer Garry Ridge, Daniel Schreiber, chief executive officer of Southern California-based Granite Financial Group, and David Perez.
Stated O’Brien: “The efforts of the company’s founders along with the new infusion of capital into the business has provided a solid foundation for future growth. Over the next couple months we look forward to sharing our brand positioning, marketing and merchandising plans with our retail partners. We are confident that Penta’s success will continue to drive profitable growth for the bottled water category.”
About Penta Water
Penta ultra-purified premium drinking water is possibly the world’s purest drinking water. Penta Water undergoes a rigorous 13-step, 11-hour purification and patented physics process, which not only purifies the water, but also enhances its absorption characteristics. Penta is produced by The Penta Water Company in a state-of-the-art bottling facility in Carlsbad, California. Currently, Penta is sold nationwide in approximately 4,500 natural foods stores and over 3,000 grocery stores. For more information, visit www.pentawater.com.