Q Drinks Kicks Off 2017 With New Talent: Melanie Knitzer Joins As Executive Vice President – Retail Sales
Brooklyn, NY (January 6, 2016) – Q Drinks, a line of spectacular carbonated mixers founded by entrepreneur and Gin & Tonic enthusiast, Jordan Silbert, adds new talent to the team with the appointment of Melanie Knitzer as Executive Vice President – Retail Sales. Knitzer’s role will be to build the presence and availability of Q Drinks through retail and grocery stores. Her addition to the Q Drinks team follows recent appointments of industry veterans over the past year, with Ted Roman joining as Executive Vice President of Sales – Liquor and Devin Wilson as Vice President of Marketing.
Melanie Knitzer’s background includes more than 15 years building Honest Tea nationwide as VP of Sales, before moving to Coca Cola with the acquisition of Honest Tea. At Coca Cola, Melanie oversaw Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) Natural Sales helping to grow beverages including Honest Tea, Zico Coconut Water, Odwalla, Simply and smartwater across the country.
“I’ve known Melanie for many years and I’ve always been impressed by her,” says Silbert. “She is one of the leading lights in the industry. Her knowledge and experience in the retail space will help Q Drinks achieve our goal of sharing our spectacular mixers with cocktail drinkers everywhere. With Ted, Devin, and now Melanie joining the Q Drinks family, I am looking forward to 2017 as a spectacular year for Q Drinks.”
In addition to Knitzer, Becca Ray will be coming on as Director of Retail Sales – West. Ray has worked with Knitzer for the past 10 years, first as a regional manager at Honest Tea and more recently in the same position at Coke VEB. Prior, Ray was the Central Regional Sales Manager for Frontier Natu Coop as well a team member for Whole Foods Market.
Silbert’s quest to create spectacular carbonated mixers began with the disappointing realization that existing tonic waters were lousy – flat and filled with chemicals and sugars that ruined his gin drinks. So, he set out to create a spectacular tonic water. During the next four years, Silbert tracked down the finest ingredients and experimented with the recipe until he developed the perfect tonic water to mix with great gins. Immediately, some of the world’s top restaurants, cocktail lounges, and retailers began to buy Q Tonic. Soon after, they requested other carbonated mixers of the same quality and sophistication as the tonic. Jordan jumped in with the same dedicated process for each Q drink, sourcing the finest ingredients and experimenting with the recipes until the results were spectacular. Today, the Q Drinks portfolio features six flavors, each carefully crafted to mix with the best spirits.
About Q Drinks
Q Drinks makes the world’s best carbonated mixers – spectacular beverages crafted with authentic ingredients, more carbonation, and much less sugar to perfectly complement the world’s finest spirits. Our tonic water, ginger beer, and other flavors are proudly carried by many of America’s best restaurants, bars, and retailers including Whole Foods, Safeway, HEB, BevMo and Amazon. For more information please visit www.QDrinks.com.
