Scott Miller Appointed as New CEO at Essentia

Essentia Water announced today that founder and CEO Ken Uptain will be shifting into a new role as the company’s Executive Chairman, with Scott Miller, CEO of Tampico Beverages, chosen as his successor. The change is effective June 1.

The decision closes a long chapter for the Seattle-based ionized alkaline water brand, with Uptain, the company’s owner, having risen as an early pioneer in the space to a category leader, generating $286 million in measured retail sales last year.

“I am fully confident that Scott, who is a seasoned CEO in the food and beverage industry, has the strong experience and track record to achieve this vision and lead the company into its next big growth stage,” Uptain said in a press release.

Miller steps into his new role at Essentia after a 15 year run at the helm of Chicago-based Tampico Beverages, which markets a variety of shelf-stable fruit punch drinks, iced teas, concentrates and gelatin snacks in over 50 countries worldwide. He brings “deep-rooted knowledge of the beverage space and experience in leading brands through domestic and international expansion while emphasizing culture as a force for good,” according to the release.

After 22 years running the company, Uptain said he found himself slowing down, but also reevaluating how he can best support Essentia’s growth. Along with his background in sales, he said Miller’s experience building Tampico into an international brand will help with Essentia’s own global ambitions. The company has grown to the point where it needs more structure than Uptain, who identifies as an entrepreneur, could provide.

“I think this will be a billion dollar brand and I think we need somebody to come in to help it get there,” he said.

Speaking with BevNET, Miller said he was “humbled, honored and privileged” to be joining Essentia. Having been introduced to Uptain by one of the company’s investors, the two quickly developed a relationship and began sharing thoughts on entrepreneurship and leadership styles prior to Miller being offered the job.

“We really just connected as two guys caring about people and putting people first,” he said. “We shared a lot of common dialogue and had similar alignment in our thinking.”

Miller said he is looking forward to returning to his roots in DSD, he said, having spent his career on the customer relationship side of the business. Prior to joining Tampico, he spent time in various roles at Dr Pepper Snapple and in both frontline and management positions at PepsiCo Bottling.

In addition to growth, Uptain repeatedly returned to the subject of company culture in discussing Miller’s appointment. “He will keep the family culture of Essentia that we have today,” he said. According to Essentia’s incoming CEO, that means keeping the brand’s entrepreneurial spirit strong even as it scales.

“I think it’s important never to lose that,” he said. “It’s something that I know has been Ken’s vision, that being an entrepreneur means acting quickly and we have to continue that legacy and be strategic as we move forward. “

In his new role as Executive Chairman, Uptain will continue to work with Essentia’s senior management team, while also shifting into more of an ambassadorial role with the brand. He remains the company’s largest shareholder.

Despite the disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, Uptain said the company’s strong performance made him confident that the time was right to make a change in leadership. In the first quarter of this year, the brand generated $74 million in measured retail sales, compared to $53 million in Q1 2019, with sales up close to 70% in March alone.

“I know we watch all the numbers and we’ve done really well,” he said, acknowledging that a slowdown in May and June after a period of stocking up. “We are really coming out of this in good shape, compared to a lot of people in the country.”