LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwired – Mar 9, 2015) – Reed’s, Inc. (NYSE MKT: REED), maker of the top-selling sodas in natural food stores nationwide, today announced the appointment of Mark Beaton to the role of Chief Operating Officer.
Chris Reed, CEO and Founder of Reed’s, Inc., commented, “This is a big day for Reed’s. Mark brings over 17 years of experience directing high-volume, multi-site operations for major Fortune 500 CPG companies including Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group, Pepsi Bottling Group and United Parcel Service. Reed’s is undergoing explosive capacity growth that includes tripling the production capacity at our Los Angeles facility and expanding production through additional co-pack bottling facilities. While at Dr. Pepper, Mark was responsible for leadership across the packaged beverage network of 160 distribution facilities that delivered 290 million cases and more than $5 billion of annual sales. I am excited to have Mark join the team to oversee the operational aspects of the Reed’s organization. This will allow me to focus more of my time and attention on business development, branding and new product development like the Stronger Ginger Brew and Coffee Kombucha that we recently launched. There are significant growth opportunities ahead for Reed’s that we intend to capitalize on.”
Mark Beaton, Chief Operating Officer of Reed’s Inc., commented, “I am excited for this opportunity to work with Reed’s, a premier brand in both the natural food and craft soda space. Throughout my career I have been focused on driving topline growth that positively impacts bottom-line profits. I believe that in addition to the topline growth opportunities at Reed’s, there are significant opportunities for Reed’s to operate more efficiently and subsequently more profitably going forward.”
Prior to joining Reed’s, Mark was Vice President of Operations at the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group where he drove operational efficiencies and was responsible for leading and directing functions that focused on warehouse and distribution operations, inventory management, environmental health and safety and a corporate real estate portfolio.
Additional positions throughout Mark’s career include the Director of Supply Chain Technology and Warehousing at Cadbury Schweppes Bottling Group where he was responsible for developing and managing strategies for delivering productivity and process improvement across 166 distribution centers in North America. Mark also served in Production, Maintenance and Product Availability Manager Roles with the Pepsi Bottling Group where one of his projects focused on the restructure and revitalization of a 17.5 million case manufacturing facility that was originally planned for shut-down due to high operation costs, poor waste control and low production efficiency.
Mark began his career as a Hub Operations Supervisor at UPS and is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt who also served in the United States Army.
About Reed’s, Inc.
Reed’s, Inc. makes the top-selling natural sodas in the natural foods industry and is sold in over 15,000 natural and mainstream supermarkets nationwide. In addition, Reed’s products are sold through specialty gourmet, natural food stores, retail stores, convenience stores and restaurants nationwide and select international markets. Its seven award-winning non-alcoholic Ginger Brews are unique in the beverage industry, being brewed, not manufactured and using fresh ginger, spices and fruits in a brewing process that predates commercial soft drinks. The Company owns the top-selling root beer line in natural foods, the Virgil’s Root Beer product line, and a top-selling cola line in natural foods, the China Cola product line. In 2012, the Company launched its Reed’s Culture Club Kombucha line of organic live beverages. Other product lines include: Reed’s Ginger Candies and Reed’s Ginger Ice Creams. The company celebrated 25 years of hand crafting the best sodas in the world, naturally, in 2014.
For more information about Reed’s, please visit the Company’s website at:http://www.reedsinc.com or call 800-99-REEDS.
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