PATH Names Nick Giannuzzi, Scott Miller to Board of Directors
Aluminum bottled water brand PATH is charting its course for 2023 with several new executive hires, as well as the appointment of CPG lawyer Nick Giannuzzi and former Essentia CEO Scott Miller as board members.
According to Ali Orabi and Shadi Bakour, who co-founded PATH alongside Amer Orabi, the new appointments will help to bring the aluminum-packaged brand to the next level of growth. PATH’s bottled water line is billed as being reusable and sustainable, and the brand is now rolling out updated packaging that replaces its plastic cap with a new aluminum cap and a biodegradable quality control wrap to ensure the entire bottle is recyclable.
Giannuzzi, one of the founders of Giannuzzi Lewendon and the founder and managing partner of Humble Growth, has guided exits and financing for brands such as BodyArmor, RXBar and Chameleon Cold-Brew, and had worked with PATH for several years prior to joining the board, Bakour said.
“Nick has kind of watched us grow from a very, very small company, into where we are today,” Bakour said. “We’re just very excited to be working very closely with him on building distribution and strategically figuring out the next steps for PATH, and amplifying the impact and the reach and the scale of distribution that we currently have today.”
Meanwhile, Miller brings experience as a beverage CEO to the board, Bakour said. Miller, currently serving as co-founder and CEO of enhanced water brand Yesly, previously led alkaline water company Essentia from 2020 until its exit to Nestle in 2021. He previously was CEO of Tampico Beverages from 2005 to 2020 and before that was Senior Vice President at Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
According to Bakour, the appointment of Giannuzzi and Miller to the board follows the brand’s $30 million Series A round, which closed in September, led by Altos Ventures. At the time, Altos investor Dillon Krasnigor was also appointed to PATH’s board of directors.
Beyond its board, PATH has also named new c-suite and director-level team members, including former Propeller Industries senior director of finance Steven Ostrom as CFO and former Beachbody logistics manager Frank Hernandez as director of supply chain. The company now anticipates it will double its headcount this year, from around 50 full-time employees to 100.
The new personnel arrive as PATH continues to target new growth and introduce innovations. The brand is currently sold in over 50,000 retail doors nationwide, the founders said, and is now working to expand its presence in the travel, gym, specialty and foodservice channels with accounts like Chanel, Barry’s Bootcamp and HMSHost, as well as a launch in Target stores last fall.
In addition to a new bottle design, the brand is also preparing to launch 3-packs in retail stores this year. The multipack line uses recyclable packaging and will include Still, Alkaline and Sparkling varieties in 20.3 oz. bottles and Still and Alkaline in 25 oz. bottles.
Orabi noted the brand is also continuing to grow into its IP partnership bottle business and will launch limited edition bottle designs in select retailers this year, including a Seven-Day Refill bottle exclusive to CVS this month, an Autism Awareness bottle for Rite Aid in the spring, and an Army themed bottled nationwide this summer.
Chris Cuvelier Joins BeyondBrands
BeyondBrands, the New York-based natural products incubation company founded by Eric Schnell, has named Chris Cuvelier as its new Chief Growth Officer.
Cuvelier, a Half-Moon Bay-based executive whose previous roles include CEO of coconut water and acai juice brand Zola and head of beverage at cannabis company Caliva, announced the appointment on LinkedIn this week.
BeyondBrands was co-founded by Schnell and chairwoman Marci Zaroff. The CPG focused company has helped design and grow natural food and beverage brands including Petal, Mingle Mocktails, Good Catch and Cool Beans.
Nirvana Water Appoints Two New Sales VPs
Nirvana Water Sciences has filled two key sales roles this week in what the wellness beverage company calls a “journey to super-charge” the brand.
Industry veteran J.W. Fischer will lead growth efforts in New York as the VP of Sales. According to the press release, Fischer joins Nirvana after a long career in beverage developing brands like Honest Tea, Avitae Caffeinated Water, Vita Coco and Super Coffee. More recently, Fischer was VP of sales at Sweet Reason Beverage Co. and then Wave Soda.
“J.W.’s experience working side-by-side with retailers, distributors and brokers to launch new beverage brands is exactly what we need to achieve the explosive growth we know Nirvana is capable of,” said Nirvana’s CEO David Vanderveen.
Additionally, Nirvana announced on Monday that Candice St. Pierre, PhD was appointed VP of nutrition sales, where she will be tasked with building out the brand’s footprint in nutrition and wellness retail outlets. St. Pierre brings sales experience from her past roles at Twinlab Consolidated Holdings Inc., Skinnygirl, Performix and Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.
Nirvana’s lightly-flavored, electrolyte-infused waters and supplements are built on its proprietary myHMB Clear ingredient that claims to reduce muscle soreness, boost muscle recovery time, regulate blood sugar and support lean muscle mass production.
“Bringing Nirvana’s infused beverages and new supplement products into the nutrition aisle will put Nirvana where people expect to find our highly functional and scientifically backed product line,” Vanderveen said.
100 Coconuts Building Out Sales, Marketing Leadership
100 Coconuts has appointed two key executives to build on the canned coconut water brand’s success: Former BIOLYTE sales VP Jason Miller is joining as president of sales and Sherina Garcia will lead strategy as marketing director.
Garcia most recently was marketing director at Bakerly, a U.S. subsidiary of the Norac Group, and before that worked as CMO for North African superstore chain Ardis.
According to a release, Miller brings experience building DSD networks with key retailers from his work in beer brand distribution at MillerCoors before leading sales at BIOLYTE for the past three years.
After successfully graduating from LA Libations SoCal Incubator Program (SIP), 100 Coconuts entered 2023 with 400% growth year-over-year by expanding its DSD networks and opening doors with major retailers like Publix, HEB, Walmart, Target, Vitamin Shoppe and Safeway.
Chinola
Passionfruit liqueur maker Chinola’s co-founder Andrew Merinoff is stepping into a new role as CEO, with wine and spirits industry veteran Filipe Carvalho appointed as COO.
Merinoff created the Dominican spirit brand (chinola is the local name for passion fruit in the Dominican Republic) with co-founder Robert Pallone in 2015. The brand reported double digit growth in Florida last year and is currently distributed in 30 domestic and 12 international markets.
Merinoff is also the founder of venture capital firm Dispact Ventures and works as a consultant for importer Proximo Spirits, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“In addition to Merinoff’s leadership, Carvalho played an instrumental role in our domestic growth as managing director and most recently spearheading our international expansion,” Pallone said in a statement. “As COO, he will oversee both sides of the business and build a team that takes Chinola to the next level.”
Previously, Carvalho held management positions at Zacapa Rum and for Stoli’s Bayou Rum brand before joining the Chinola team.
Chinola also announced that Chelsey Youse will be brand manager and Scott Rutledge will be the new Midwest regional sales manager overseeing Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin.
“With immense growth and expansion comes a need for more dedicated leadership that will continue to steer the brand forward,” Pallone added.