Meet the Next Generation Honest Tea: Just Ice Tea
Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman has named the successor to the bottled organic tea line that Coca-Cola has discontinued: Just Ice Tea. Goldman made the announcement on his company’s website and in an interview with Gourmet News.
“The name builds on our Fair Trade commitment, the working conditions and wages paid, and it also looks at the environment, we’re choosing organic over chemicals, pesticides to maintain pristine ecosystems,” Goldman told Gourmet News. “And it also speaks to the taste. It’s just sweet enough.
“We use recognizable and minimal ingredients in every recipe,” Goldman wrote on the website, “and of course nothing artificial. You will taste the essence of the tea, and not much more.”
Coca-Cola acquired Honest Tea in 2011.
Coca-Cola’s announcement in May that it was discontinuing Honest Tea was “a gut punch to all the sweat, tears and incredible passion that went into building our beloved brand,” Goldman said in a post on his LinkedIn account.
“But we bounced back well!” Goldman told Gourmet News.
Goldman expects Just Ice Tea to be on shelves this fall.
Read more about Goldman’s new ice tea, created with Chef Spike Mendelsohn, in the August issue of Gourmet News. Subscribe now so you don’t miss anything!
Amber Beverage Group Taps Ruslan Romanenko as CFO
Amber Beverage Group has appointed Ruslan Romanenko as group chief financial officer. Romanenko is a senior financial executive with over 25 years of experience in the industry and becomes part of the ABG executive board.
Before joining ABG, Romanenko worked as chief financial officer at Nemiroff, one of the leading vodka producers in Ukraine. Prior to this, he held similar executive roles at companies that included TerraFood, Bunge, and Philip Morris Ukraine. As well as being an experienced financial manager, Romanenko is able to develop and lead large multicultural finance and accounting teams.
“I am thrilled to have been appointed to this key role by Amber Beverage Group,” Romanenko said. “This global company, which has operations in several countries, will bring interesting and exciting new challenges where I can use my experience to help drive further growth. I am already enjoying my new environment as this role entailed a move from Kyiv to Riga. I am especially proud to join a company that has been offering so much practical and financial support to the people of Ukraine.”
Amber Beverage Group is a rapidly growing global spirits company, whose products are found in millions of households and venues across the globe. ABG’s core brands are Moskovskaya Vodka, Rooster Rojo Tequila, KAH Tequila, The Irishman Whiskey, Writers’ Tears Whiskey, Riga Black Balsam, Cross Keys Gin and Cosmopolitan Diva.
ABG produces, bottles, markets, distributes, exports, and retails a comprehensive range of beverages of which it owns more than 100 and is responsible for marketing and distributing 1,300 third-party drinks brands, spanning everything from premium vodka and sparkling wines to specialty Mexican tequilas and Irish whiskey.
The company has grown from its original core production business in the pan-Baltic region established in 1900, to a global spirits industry player that unites around 2,050 employees in almost 20 companies including Austria, Australia, the Baltic States, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
The August issue of Gourmet News will include an article about how specialty food companies with ties to Ukraine are supporting the country because of the Russian invasion. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it!
Alkaline Water Taps Lazaran as CEO
The Alkaline Water Company Inc. has appointed Frank Lazaran, a current director and 40-year veteran of the retail food industry, as CEO.
Lazaran was most recently the chairman, CEO and president of Marsh Supermarkets and, served as the CEO, president and director of Winn-Dixie Stores. Lazaran has a proven track for delivering operational excellence with extensive leadership experience in scaling organizations in the retail sector.
Richard Wright has resigned from his positions of CEO, president and a director of Alkaline Water effective immediately.
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