April 7/Seattle/Business Wire -- Jones Soda Co. announced that its board of directors has appointed William R. Meissner as the company's new president and chief executive officer.
Meissner is a veteran in the beverage industry, and brings to the company a track record of brand building and rapid revenue growth, having taken several products from ideation through commercialization. He served most recently as president of Talking Rain Beverage, a 21-year-old, privately held, beverage company. From 2004 to 2008, he was chief marketing officer of Fuze Beverages, a new-age category brand leader and division of Coca Cola North America. Prior to that, Meissner held other senior-level positions in the new age beverage category, including brand director and director of brand development with SoBe Beverages, a division of Pepsi Cola North America, as well as vce president of sales and Marketing of the startup venture SoBe Chocolate. Meissner began his career with Tetra Pak Inc., a private multinational consumer beverage-packaging firm based in Lausanne, Switzerland.