NEW YORK — Vita Coco, a leading coconut water brand in its 11th year of business, is expanding its leadership team to support global growth. Vita Coco products are currently available in 30 countries.
Armando Amselem joins the company in the newly created position of global chief financial officer. During a 20-year tenure with PepsiCo, Mr. Amselem held senior financial, strategic planning and management roles in North America, Latin America, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Most recently he was general manager of Tropicana North America.
“Armando’s broad expertise and leadership skills are invaluable to Vita Coco as we expand our brand’s availability and operations, globally,” said Michael Kirban, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vita Coco. “We’ve come a long way from me wearing roller blades and selling Vita Coco out of my backpack, and we still have a long way to go. I’m confident Armando and our other new executives will help us achieve our longstanding goal of being synonymous with coconut water.”
Jose Carvalho has been named to the new role of Americas c.f.o. and general manager, Canada. Mr. Carvalho joined Vita Coco in 2010 as c.f.o. He will continue to oversee the brand’s financial operations in North America while managing Vita Coco’s growing Canada business.
Markus Krebs joins Vita Coco’s operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa as the EMEA regional director. In this newly created position, Mr. Krebs will lead expansion across emerging markets. Prior to joining the company, he worked at Monster Energy in Europe. Mr. Krebs’ experience also includes 15 years at Red Bull Energy Drink.
Prinz Pinakatt will advance to the newly created role of vice-president of marketing and sales, South Asia & Pacific. Mr. Pinakatt joined the company in January after a 17-year career with the Coca-Cola Co.
Patrick Wang has been named to the new position of North Asia marketing director. He will oversee marketing and branding in Greater China, Japan and South Korea. Previously, Mr. Wang worked for a luxury menswear label.
“These strategic hires in EMEA and APAC support our two fastest growing markets,” Mr. Kirban said. “We’re building the team that can help turn Vita Coco into the next truly global beverage brand.”
