Zevia Announces New CEO
Beverage company Zevia is making some changes at the top. The company, which produces zero sugar beverages made with plant-based ingredients, announced that current president Amy Taylor will succeed longtime CEO Paddy Spence on Aug. 1.
As part of this succession plan, Spence will stay on as chair of Zevia’s board of directors. After acquiring the company in 2010, he held the chief executive role for 12 years and helped fuel a 31% net sales compound annual growth rate from that year through 2021. Among other accomplishments, he oversaw a product line expansion from seven soda flavors to a broad portfolio of more than 35 varieties across soda, energy drinks organic tea, mixers and children’s drinks.
“It has been a privilege to serve as Zevia’s CEO for the past 12 years, and I am extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished,” said Spence. “Amy and I have worked side-by-side during Zevia’s transformation, and she has been instrumental in developing and implementing our strategies for driving future growth and profitability. She has been deeply involved in leading the business across sales, marketing, human resources and operations functions.”
President of the company since June 2021, Taylor has taken several steps over the past year to build Zevia's team and brand. Spence credited her with playing an important role in the recent appointments of Denise Beckles as CFO and Quincy Troupe as COO. In addition, she worked to broaden package and product innovations.
Before joining Zevia, she was president and chief marketing officer at Red Bull North America from 2018 to 2020, moving up from other marketing positions. She remains co-chair of the executive and strategic committees on the board of directors for the non-profit initiative The Trevor Project.
“I am excited and honored to serve as the next leader of Zevia during such a transformative time for our company with exciting opportunities ahead, including further channel and geographic expansion, a brand refresh, and continued strengthening of organizational capabilities,” said Taylor. “I look forward to continuing to work alongside Paddy, the board and the experienced leadership team we now have in place to further strengthen the brand and deliver critical consumer and global health needs, to realize our mission by scaling the business and driving profitable growth and value creation.”
Zevia continues to widen its brand. Earlier this summer, the company introduced two limited-time products: Fruit Punch and Orange Cream soda. The seasonal nostalgic drinks will be on shelf throughout this summer.
