If you hear something whispering in the winds through the vast of the Nordic ice caps, know it’s simply the wisdom of Ken Sadowsky.
Bottled water manufacturer Icelandic Glacial announced today it has named Sadowsky to its board of directors. The man also known as the “Beverage Whisperer” is a senior advisor at investment firm Verlinvest and the executive director of beverage distribution group NIDA, but joins Icelandic’s board as an individual. With over 30 years of industry experience, he’s also served in advisory roles at brands like Bai, Vita Coco, Califia Farms, Sambazon and Essentia, as well as prior work at Vitaminwater parent company Glaceau.
According to Icelandic Glacial CEO Reza Mirza, Sadowsky joins the brand as it seeks to swiftly scale and grow brand awareness in the coming years.
“He’s a legend in the industry, his wealth of knowledge of growing brands to successful outcomes is incredible. I tell people either he’s very smart, or he’s very lucky – and I’m okay with either one!” Mirza said.
In a separate interview, Sadowsky told BevNET that he believes in Mirza’s talent as an executive and that Icelandic Glacial has an opportunity to stake a real claim in a large, but still growing category.
“The U.S. was, in some ways, late to the party [with bottled water], because of the most developed nations in the world, the U.S. was the last one to have retail PET overtake carbonated soft drinks as the largest single category,” Sadowsky said.
As well, Sadowsky pointed to Icelandic’s position as a zero sugar, better-for-you beverage, citing a personal goal throughout his career to combat the U.S. obesity epidemic by supporting healthier drinks.
Last fall, Icelandic received fresh investment from existing investors and Blackrock, which Mirza said at the time would go towards driving international growth. As of September, around 75% of Icelandic’s business was in the U.S., where it held an ACV of around 60%-65%. The new funding helped to support an expanded sales and marketing team, with particular focus on major markets like Los Angeles, Chicago and the East Coast, as well as extending its manufacturing capabilities.
Now, Mirza says Sadowsky will help the brand to “avoid pitfalls” and other mistakes companies make as they scale, while also advising on how to best grow the brand platform through future innovation.
In 2024 and 2025, Mirza said Icelandic’s mission is “all about” establishing its new aluminum can offerings, including an extension into flavored sparkling water that launched last year. The company is also preparing for a major expansion of its production facility next year.
In 2026, Mirza hopes to announce new innovations, with eyes towards extending Icelandic into unexplored beverage categories – an area where he said Sadowksy’s guidance will be pivotal.
“Entering a category is one thing –do you have permission with your brand to enter that category?” Mirza said. “I have to watch out and recognize what is the permission that I get from the consumer, based on the brand we’re creating, to enter over there. And that’s the exercise we’re doing now.”
Icelandic Glacial is also now working to better establish its name with American consumers through TV marketing. The brand announced on Monday it is launching two new commercial spots for a new eight-week campaign, called “You Are What You Drink, Be Exceptional.” The two ads, individually dubbed “Fire” and “Ice,” respectively feature famous Icelanders Þráinn Freyr Vigfússon, a Michelin star chef, and photographer Ása Steinars.
Mirza said the campaign will focus primarily on the Southern California market, which he identified as the largest premium water market in the country and an area of the country where Icelandic Glacial has the deepest penetration, with an omnichannel presence ranging from natural grocery to foodservice accounts.
“This is home base, every successful brand has had a strong home market,” he said. “So what I want to do is invest in this market, get the data and look at the lift which we get, and then you extrapolate that to see ‘Okay, for 2025 we know what worked, now let’s extrapolate that to the next market and the next market.’ Now this process is a slower build, but you get the best bang for the buck.”
For Sadowsky, he said the focus for Icelandic Glacial is not just on winning new accounts, but on driving volume per outlet – a goal the TV campaign aims to support.
“There’s two parts of this equation: There’s the push, and a lot of people think, ‘Hey, we got into important chains A, B, C, and D,” Sadowsky said. “Well, that’s great, but the more expensive piece, and the more nuanced piece is how to pull it off the shelf.”