Norman E. Snyder Named CEO At Reed’s Inc

Reed’s Inc. announced today that COO Norman E. Snyder, Jr. will succeed interim CEO John Bello in a permanent capacity effective March 1.

Snyder will take on the role just months after joining Reed’s in September during a management shakeup that also saw the exit of CEO Val Stalowir.

“We are excited to have Norm accept the role of Chief Executive Officer and lead Reed’s into the future,” said Bello, who also serves as chairman of the company’s board of directors, in a press release. “Over the last few months as our Chief Operating Officer, Norm has proven he is the best candidate for the position already bringing his over two decades of beverage expertise to the table, leveraging his extensive supply chain and management experience, and proving to be an invaluable asset to our team.”

Snyder brings a long track record of industry experience to the position, having previously served in a variety of executive roles including at caffeinated water brand Avitae and ready-to-drink tea and coffee maker Adina For Life, as well as at Rheingold Brewing Company and High Falls Brewing Company.

He also has a long relationship with Bello: the pair worked together previously at Adina For Life and and at South Beach Beverage Company (SoBe), where Snyder served as COO from 1995 through its sale to PepsiCo in 2001.

Snyder told BevNET that the prospect of being Reed’s permanent CEO “was an aspect that intrigued me” when he joined the company. As he prepares to take the reins next week, he said he was confident the brand has the pieces in place to drive growth after a spate of supply chain and production challenges that preceded Stalowir’s appointment in 2017.

“Our internal mantra is sell, save and simplify,” he said. “That really embodies what we are trying to do, which is drive our top line by having quality products available when we need them, which is something the company has struggled with for years.”

Those struggles came to the fore again for Reed’s last year when production issues hit three of its co-packing partners — Lion Brewery, California Custom Beverage and Langer — and pushed quarterly losses to over $4 million.

“I feel really good about where we are now that we’ve caught up,” he said. “You have to be diligent, but I think we have the processes in place and the right people involved and the communication to prevent a recurrence.

As part of that approach, Snyder said the company will be slowing down its innovation pipeline in order to focus on delivering its core products. Reed’s will be showcasing its new ginger ale next week at Natural Products Expo West.

“The only thing we are doing this year is ginger ale,” he said. “It’s kind of going back to basics and doing a few things right as opposed to doing a lot of things mediocre, or bad.”