Celsius® Names Industry Veteran Vanessa Walker as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Proven Leader Joins Celsius from National Beverage Corp.
Celsius Holdings, Inc., (OTCQX: CELH) the creator and marketer of Celsius®, a high performance energy brand, announced today that Vanessa Walker, an executive leader with a proven track record of establishing and revitalizing brands and particular expertise in the beverage industry, has accepted the position of Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, reporting directly to Gerry David, President and Chief Executive Officer of Celsius.
The Celsius brand, named for its correlating ability to raise one’s body temperature, is powered by proprietary MetaPlus Blend® enacting thermogenesis to increase metabolism allowing benefits including burning fat and calories, creating lean muscle, boosting endurance and drive. This vitamin enriched blend, creates a healthy energy offering which the company is classifying as “high performance energy”, to describe both the brand, and a newly emerging category segment which CELH (OTCQX) is pioneering.
Celsius, the world’s only negative calorie drink, backed by clinical science, is the first brand offered by Celsius Holdings, Inc., which has a corporate mission to become the global leader with a portfolio of high performance brands offering proprietary or patented brands offering significant health benefits steeped in nutritional science.
Ms. Walker joins Celsius from National Beverage Corp., where she managed all aspects of the LaCroix Sparkling Water brand, serving as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. At Celsius, she will lead the sales and marketing effort, as well as the development and execution of the corporate strategy. Ms. Walker will coordinate the efforts of the Vice President of Sales and the Vice President of Marketing.
“The fact that we could recruit and secure a proven industry leader like Vanessa Walker validates our accelerating momentum and the ultimate potential of Celsius,” commented Mr. David. “Vanessa brings more than 22 years of experience in the retail and beverage industries and a wealth of relationships which will serve us well as our brand continues to increase in popularity. She will be instrumental in broadening distribution both domestically and abroad, improving sell-through and growing our brand equity.”
Ms. Walker was initially hired by National Beverage Corp. in 2008 as Director, Strategic Brand Development, NBC Corp. More recently, she created the business plan and strategy to revitalize the LaCroix Sparkling Water brand, and over the last eight years, this successful effort resulted in the growing from sales less than $35 million in 2008 to more than $175 million in reporting segments in 2015 (according to SPINS). As a result, LaCroix, ranked number one in dollar share with 26% of the sparkling water segment (according to the Beverage Digest Fact Book, 2015, p. 97). Previously, Ms. Walker served as Director of Marketing for Big Red from 2006 to 2007, working primarily to relaunch the Red JAK energy drink. From 2004-2006, she served as the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Co-Founder, of the Manhattan Beverage Co. From 2001-2004, Ms. Walker was Vice President of National Accounts for IN ZONE Brands, makers of the then BellyWashers and TummyTicker brands (today, Good to Grow), where she successfully positioned the lines into national retailers. She was ultimately promoted to VP of National Accounts, leading a team of five across the country to develop the brand in all channels of trade, and in this role she grew the brand from $850,000 in 1999 to $90 million in the 48 months after 9-11.
“The Celsius brand has been on shelves for more than ten years in the US, with growing consumer demand, it has stood the test of time in the face of intense competition. Today it is sold around the globe, and expanding rapidly as it sits poised to take advantage of the converging energy, sports nutrition and dietary supplement categories,” added Ms. Walker. “I am excited to help build this brand, expand distribution, drive sales efficiency and ultimately create lasting shareholder value.”
About Celsius Holdings, Inc.
Celsius Holdings Inc. (OTCQX: CELH) is a global nutritional science based company, founded in April 2004. Celsius® provides negative calorie healthy energy in the form of ready to drink and powder formulas powered by MetaPlus™, a proprietary blend of quality ingredients including Green Tea with EGCG, Ginger, Taurine, Gaurana, and B and C vitamins. Backed by multiple published university studies, drinking Celsius before exercise has been proven to help burn more body fat, burn 100 calories and more per serving and provide healthy energy.
Celsius comes in seven delicious flavors, carbonated and non-carbonated, and also in powder stick formulas that can be mixed with water. Celsius has no preservatives, no aspartame, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors or colors and is very low in sodium. The Celsius line of products is vegan certified, Gluten Free, and sugar free. The first university study was conducted in 2005, and additional studies from the University of Oklahoma were conducted over the next five years. All studies were published in peer reviewed journals and validated the unique benefits Celsius provides to the consumer.
For more information, please visit www.celsius.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements contain projections of Celsius Holdings’ future results of operations and/or financial position, or state other forward-looking information. In some cases you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or similar words. You should not rely on forward-looking statements since Celsius Holdings’ actual results may differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements as a result of a number of important factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: general economic and business conditions; our business strategy for expanding our presence in our industry; anticipated trends in our financial condition and results of operation; the impact of competition and technology change; existing and future regulations affecting our business; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports Celsius Holdings has filed previously with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Celsius Holdings does not intend to and undertakes no duty to update the information contained in this press release.
