OPERATING EXECUTIVES
DAVID KNIGHT
President & Chief Executive Officer
David Knight is a global brand and sales guy with nearly 40 years of consumer products and e-commerce experience. Most of his career has been in beverages both Non-Alcoholic and Alcoholic. He has a proven track record of product and packaging innovation, breakthrough marketing campaigns as well as sales leadership.
David started his career with Frito-Lay Australia fresh out of college where he graduated with a marketing degree from the University of New South Wales. He was the first international marketer to join the Frito-Lay USA team in Plano Texas, where he spent 3 years growing and developing their dip / salsa and unflavored tortilla chip business. He developed and launched the line of Tostitos queso and salsas which is the market leader today.
Upon his return to Australia, he ran Sales and Marketing for Frito-Lay and then ran marketing for the Pacific Rim for PepsiCo Foods International.
His next career move was to lead the Gatorade Team in Australia and New Zealand for Quaker Oats, and then moved to Hong Kong to launch Gatorade into China. Upon the acquisition of Gatorade by PepsiCo David moved to Purchase New York to run marketing for Gatorade International out of PepsiCo’s head office, putting Gatorade into the Pepsi Bottling systems around the world.
In 2004 he was recruited by eBay to run international marketing out of San Jose CA, to scale marketing and the eBay platform around the world. His last assignment at eBay was to scale Internal Communications for Meg Whitman across eBay, PayPal and Skype.
In 2008 David entered the spirits world with a tequila start-up called SX Liquors. This entrepreneurial start-up targeted female tequila consumers with breakthrough packaging and infused flavors.
In 2020 David was the Chief Beverage officer at a CBD company in Longmont and launched the brand James & James. Following that he developed and launched the range of Hemp D9 for the Cheech & Chong team.
As the President and CEO of Jones Soda since June 2023, David is excited to lead both Jones Soda and Mary Jones, its cannabis-infused soda line, to the next phase of growth.
Jerry Goldner
Chief Growth Officer
Senior CPG Executive and leader with a consistent track record of delivering exceptional performance, value creation, and growth over a 25-year career. Jerry has led a number of teams that delivered on both near term financial/growth commitments, while also building the long-term capability of the team and organization. He has an energetic and positive leadership style, strong strategic/business acumen, and authentic interpersonal skills that build outstanding relationships with both customers and internal teams.
Eric Bittner
Chief Operating Officer
Eric comes to Jones with 20 years of leadership in the beverage industry. He most recently led turnarounds at Roar Organic’s and Fever Tree, where he served as the SVP of North American Manufacturing. Additionally, he has also held supply chain leadership positions at Keurig Dr. Pepper, Niagara Bottling, and PepsiCo.
Over the past year, Eric has developed the North American commercial and supply chain strategy for multiple spirits and RTD cocktail companies. Within the contract manufacturing community, Eric has overhauled and redesigned craft breweries into diversified co-packers that are strategically focused on spirits, RTD’s of all kinds, and a wide array of crafted cannabinoid based drinks.
Throughout his career Eric has been at the forefront of manufacturing innovation and has been sharply focused on the commercialization of vertically integrated platforms across multiple beverage categories at some of the largest beverage manufacturers globally. When he’s not focused on strategy he’s focused on people. Building a strong team is a privilege. There is nothing more rewarding and more inspiring than developing a team and helping them win at both work and life.
NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTORS
PAUL NORMAN
Director Since: August 2019
Since June 2019, Mr. Norman has been chairman and CEO of HeavenlyRx, where he is focused on developing a long-term strategic direction and growing the company’s brand portfolio. Previously, Mr. Norman spent over 30 years at the Kellogg Company, a multinational food manufacturing company, and most recently served as president of the company’s North American operations from April 2015 to April 2018. During his multi-decade career at Kellogg, Mr. Norman led various transformation efforts through strategic portfolio innovation and management that resulted in long-term, profitable growth. Mr. Norman holds a bachelor’s degree in French studies from the University of Portsmouth, and previously was a board member for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, where he served on the executive committee.
CLIVE SIRKIN
Director Since: August 2019
Mr. Sirkin is a seasoned marketing executive who has held various executive roles in large, multinational CPG companies. Most recently, from December 2015 to February 2019, he served as chief growth officer at the Kellogg Company, where he was responsible for overseeing sales and marketing strategies, along with leading product innovation and R&D efforts. Prior to Kellogg, from February 2012 to November 2015, Mr. Sirkin held the role of chief marketing officer at Kimberly-Clark, a multinational personal care company, in which he oversaw all marketing operations across the business-to-business and business-to-consumer divisions. Mr. Sirkin holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He currently serves on the board of directors for Screendragon, Generation UCAN and 70 Faces Media.
CHAD BRONSTEIN
Director Since: March 2022
Mr. Bronstein has been a director of Jones Soda since February 15, 2022. Currently, Mr. Bronstein serves as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Fyllo, a company providing compliance-first SaaS solutions for highly regulated industries. He also serves as Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board for Tyson 2.0, boxer Mike Tyson’s cannabis company, and Wesana Health, a life science company on a journey to treat traumatic brain injury and mental illness through psychedelics. In addition, he is an investor and partner in Kenan Thompson’s new talent management and production company, Artists for Artists. Previously, Mr. Bronstein served as the Chief Revenue Officer of Amobee Inc. after it was acquired by Adconian Media Group, where he served as Senior Vice President of North American Sales and Partnerships. Mr. Bronstein is also a strategic advisor at OpenWeb. He graduated from Miami University in 2009. We believe Mr. Bronstein brings to our Board of Directors executive leadership experience and a knowledge of the cannabis industry.
GREGG REICHMAN
Director Since: February 2023
Mr. Reichman has been a director of Jones Soda since February 27, 2023. Mr. Reichman is the Co-Founder of Active Funding Group LLC (“AFG”) a business that focuses on entrepreneurial real estate ventures and on the distressed real estate sector. Under Reichman’s guidance, AFG grew from a startup to a successful private lending company. We believe Mr. Reichman brings to our Board of Directors executive leadership experience and experience with mergers and acquisitions.
MARK MURRAY
Director Since: July 2021
Mark Murray has spent 38 years in the CPG industry. He was appointed to serve as the Jones Soda Company’s President in September 2020. He was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in December 2020 which he held until June 2023 and became a Board Member in July 2021. Mr. Murray was also the President of JGC Food Company (“JGC”), a position he held from 2017 to May 2019. At JGC he helped lead a team that more than tripled the business, added a national manufacturing footprint, and eventually sold the company to a private equity firm. Prior to that, Mr. Murray held numerous roles in Sales and Marketing, including a 22-year career with Kraft Foods. Mr. Murray received a Bachelor of Arts, Marketing, from Michigan State University.