COLUMBUS, Ohio— O2 Sports Recovery Drink, a revolutionary post-workout beverage blending seven times the oxygen of tap water with electrolytes, has named industry maven Kimberly Burck as vice president of sales. With 10 years of experience in the food and beverage space, Burck comes to O2 from General Mills, where she last served as national account manager for Annie’s. In her new role at the rapidly expanding beverage brand, she will spearhead the growth of O2 distribution into key grocery and health food stores as well as boutique fitness studios throughout the country.
“We’re excited to have Kimberly on our team, and to leverage her expertise in the natural CPG category across the natural, traditional and specialty retail channels,” said Dave Colina, CEO and founder of O2. “Her impressive track record of building successful programs for startups as well as supporting large, nationally-recognized CPG brands speaks for itself, and that coupled with her passion for the fitness space will make her a key asset to O2 as we continue to expand our presence across the country and enter new fitness markets.”
Prior to joining the O2 team, Burck spent eight years at General Mills, moving quickly up the ranks and owning key relationships with retailers such as Target, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway and Publix for a variety of General Mills brands. Most recently, she served as national account manager for Annie’s, where she was responsible for the brand’s profile at Kroger stores nationwide, growing the business by more than +30% and being recognized by General Mills in 2016 for delivering outstanding results. After her time at General Mills, she honed her passion for working with startup and pre-acquisition brands at IGNITE Sales Management where she helped over 20 natural food brands including Beyond Meat and Swell Ice Cream develop and implement sales growth strategies.
“I’m very proud and excited to join the great team at O2, and to combine my CPG background with my passion for fitness and wellness,” Burck said. “I see significant opportunity in the area of active recovery beverages in the grocery channel, and I’m looking forward to being involved in the space with a brand that’s spearheading change within the beverage industry. While O2 has strong brand recognition in the CrossFit industry, there’s endless opportunity with boutique gyms in the HIIT, yoga, and spin verticals that will be exciting to explore and develop as well. I’ve been building strong better for you brands through retail sales programs for ten years, and I’m looking forward to building upon that momentum, so that athletes everywhere can experience the benefits O2 provides.”
Unlike any other sports drink available, O2 utilizes ingested oxygen, which assists in recovery post-workout. Intentionally non-carbonated, O2 is easily drinkable after any workout, from a high intensity interval training circuit to a hot yoga flow. O2 Sports Recovery Drink is now available in more than 50 Whole Foods Market and 400 Kroger stores, with additional retail availability to follow. It is also available online and in select CrossFit gyms. For more information, please visit drinko2.com.