Jones Soda Gets New Operations Team, Taps Leaders from Keurig Dr Pepper, PepsiCo, Conagra, and More
Craft beverage company Jones Soda Co., is in a period of growth, recently announcing a new operations team that will help scale innovation and support business expansion efforts.
Jones now has a new chief operating officer. Eric Bittner takes on the role, bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience from across the beverage industry, previously working with companies like Keurig Dr Pepper, PepsiCo, and Niagara Bottling in supply chain roles.
Additionally, he led business turnarounds at Roar Organic’s and Fever Tree.
Bittner has focused primarily on innovation within manufacturing and commercializing vertical integrations in the beverage space.
“I am sharply focused on vertical integration and emerging technology as a means of removing traditional packaging design limitations, enhancing product quality, driving down the bottom line, and providing exceptional customer value,” said Bittner on LinkedIn. “Having led multipIe turnarounds, I am passionate about building strong empowered teams that are simply driven to win both on the field and on the balance sheet.”
Mary Money Hired to Lead Product Development
Additionally, Jones named Mary Money its director of new product development and commercialization.
Money is a research and development expert with over 30 years of experience in food and beverage, having worked with major companies like PepsiCo, Conagra Foods, and Newman’s Own. She’s worked across product development, new product commercialization, process engineering, and project management.
Bittner and Money will report to CEO David Knight, who said the new additions bring “a wealth and range of beverage and operational experience and relationships.”
“It is great to have some of my PepsiCo alumni joining Jones," said Knight.
The new team will help scale growth at the company, which recently expanded into the alcoholic beverages and food service categories, following the expansion into cannabis in 2022 with its Mary Jones brand.
- Jones’ Dive Into Alcoholic Beverages
The company recently expanded into alcohol with Spiked Jones, which comes in 19.2 ounce single cans and a mixed pack of 12 ounce sleek cans. The 12oz cans feature 8.4% alcohol by volume and the 19.2oz 6.9% alcohol by volume. Flavors include M.F. Grape, Orange & Cream, Strawberry Lime, Berry Lemonade, Cola & Lime, and Green Apple. Jones partnered with Rainmaker, which specializes in manufacturing bold hard ciders, for this effort.
"Jones has wanted to create a hard craft soda, but it was not possible to create the perfect taste until we partnered with Rainmaker," said David Knight, CEO of Jones Soda. "There was a natural fit due to our shared admiration of taste profiles, expertise, and shared values in beverage philosophy."
To lead growth efforts, Jones also hired a new chief growth officer late last year. Read more: Jones Soda Taps Former Kellogg Exec Jerry Goldner As New Chief Growth Officer
Bittner’s recent LinkedIn posts also suggest the company is in a period of significant growth, as it is looking to hire for roles such as Corporate QA Manager, Senior Program Manager, National Inventory Control Manager, and Project Manager. The company has also stated it has additional expansion opportunities planned.
