ChampionLyte welcomes Snapple exec
Snapple executive as president of its newly created Beverages
division.
Troubled sports drink maker ChampionLyte has appointed a former Snapple executive as president of its newly created Beverages division.
The division, a subsidiary of ChampionLyte Holdings, was recently established to manufacture and sell the company's sugar-free drink in the isotonic sports drink market.
The company has appointed Donna Bimbo to run the unit. She has held various executive positions at Snapple Beverage Group over the past 11 years, and was most recently director of international business at the group.
"From the outset, we knew we needed an industry veteran with a strong track record of success to head up our beverage division," said David Goldberg, president of ChampionLyte Holdings.
He added that during a short interim phase at the company, prior to finalizing her employment contract, "she accomplished more than even we could expect".
"Clearly, this is quite a challenge and certainly an entirely different situation than Snapple," Bimbo said. "But, Snapple was once a fledgling company with a great product. The recently reformulated ChampionLyte is outstanding. We have new packaging, new formulas, and very competitive pricing."
The Florida-based ChampionLyte Holdings, which recently changed its name from ChampionLyte Products, appointed board member David Goldberg as president last week.
The company's acting chief operating officer Marshall Kanner recently resigned due to other business commitments but will become vice chairman of the company and remain a director.
Despite significant reductions of liabilities with vendors and creditors and cut overheads, capital requirements still remain a critical issue at the firm, which not long ago was facing bankruptcy. In an effort to build toward a potential future exchange listing, Goldberg said the board has created two new corporate governance committees to deal with issues that previous management did not address.
The company recently increased its authorized shares of common stock to 200 million and is also expected to soon reach a settlement with Sara Lee Corp. concerning the name ChampionLyte as it relates to a trademark infringement lawsuit.
The new name is designed to better reflect the direction the newly restructured entity is moving towards, including possible acquisitions or strategic partnerships in both the beverage and food services industries
