New Board at True Drinks
True Drinks Inc. named Timothy Lane as the chairman of its board of directors.
Lane is currently the CEO and vice chairman of Food Automation -- Service Techniques Inc. (dba Kitchen Brains), a technology company providing SaaS-based cloud solutions to the foodservice industry, and chairman of the board of True Drinks.
Lane is well known for his accomplishments during his nearly 20-year career at PepsiCo. Chief amongst these, as CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International for Asia and the Middle East (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell), he led the expansion PRI throughout the region including the introduction of KFC into China. This success created the growth platform which enabled PepsiCo to spin off the restaurant group into what is presently known as YUM Brands. Earlier in his PepsiCo career he served as CFO, KFC Worldwide; CFO, Pepsi International; and CFO of Frito Lay International where he led its expansion to a position of dominance which it continues to enjoy today.
Subsequent to PepsiCo, Lane served as chairman, president and CEO of Holiday Inn Worldwide. Following this tenure, he retired from corporate America to co-found the Afghanistan Reconstruction Company, ARC as it was known, built the Kabul-Kandahar highway, the U.S. embassy complex and numerous other public works. ARC also started Afghanistan International Bank.
Lane began his career as a management consultant for Touche, Ross and Company before joining Masonite Corporation, where he served as general manager of its West Coast Fabricating Division. He also served as assistant to the chairman at the Consolidated Packaging Company. Lane received a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Dayton and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Lane commented, "My tenure at PepsiCo made me keenly aware of the importance of beverage differentiation and the ability to execute in trending areas of growth. True Drinks flagship product, AquaBall Naturally Flavored Water, is uniquely positioned in the marketplace as clearly a healthy alternative to the many high-calorie, sugar water, beverages marketed toward children. Furthermore, AquaBall's unique, patented spherical bottles adorned with instantly recognizable characters attract children's attention engendering tremendous brand loyalty. In a short period of time, our management team has successfully sold product to leading regional and national outlets."
Additionally, Carl Wistreich has joined the True Drink's board. He has a broad professional background as a senior executive in business development, operations, mergers and acquisitions, legal affairs, and human resources for a $20 billion privately held company, as an entrepreneur and CEO of his own business, and as a corporate lawyer for a major international law firm. Wistreich was a member of the senior management team at C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest distributor of food and related products to grocery stores in the U.S. with over $20 billion in sales. During his association with C&S, the company grew from approximately $3 billion to $20 billion in revenues. Following his time at C&S, Wistreich purchased, built up, and successfully sold L&B Truck Services, a truck dealership group providing truck sales, service and parts throughout New England. Prior to C&S, Wistreich was a corporate attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a major New York City based law firm. Wistreich presently also serves on the Board of Directors of BI-LO Holding, LLC (grocery retailer with approximately 700 stores and $10 billion in revenue). Wistreich holds a J.D. degree from New York Law School, graduating magna cum laude, and a B.A. from Colgate University.
Lou Imbrogno also is a new board member of True Drinks. He was the senior vice president of Worldwide Technical Operations for PepsiCo North America and PepsiCo Beverages International. He was responsible for Pepsi-Cola's worldwide beverage quality, concentrate operations, research & development and contract manufacturing. During Imbrogno's 40 years with PepsiCo, he served in a variety of field operating assignments, as well as various staff positions at headquarters. He is a native of New York and successfully graduated from the Wharton Executive Program.
True Drinks CEO Lance Leonard added, "Our board of directors offers our management team a wealth of direct beverage company experience in such crucial areas as corporate leadership, new product development, legal affairs and beverage distribution. They have been critical to the development of our plans in these and other areas, and they possess the experience necessary to guide us during our growth phase and beyond."
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