Dive Brief:
- Zevia PBC appointed Backcountry alum Girish Satya to its CFO seat effective Feb. 21 as it takes steps to bolster its growth, the plant-based beverage company announced Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Satya, 47, will assume the CFO seat from interim finance chief Florence Neubauer, who will step down from her duties as of the same effective date. Neubauer will continue to serve as Zevia’s senior vice president, finance and business transformation, according to the filing.
- Satya will receive a salary of $400,000 as CFO, as well as a target bonus equal to 75% of that base. He will also receive a minimum bonus payout of $175,000 for 2024, according to the company filing. Satya is also eligible to receive a long-term incentive award of $600,000 subject to approval by the compensation committee of Zevia’s board.
Dive Insight:
Prior to joining the Los Angeles, California-based beverage company, which offers zero sugar, plant-based drinks, Satya served as managing partner for multi-family office Sierra Street Partners LLC, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously served as CFO for outdoor retailer Backcountry from August 2021 until September 2022.
The CFO swap is the latest executive leadership appointment by the plant-based beverage maker as it seeks to bolster growth and overcome financial challenges. The company faces stiffer competition as consumer preferences shift toward healthful, non-alcoholic beverages.
The company appointed new marketing and supply chain leaders in August and September, with Neubauer taking on the role of interim finance chief during that time frame following the departure of previous CFO Denise Beckles, according to a company filing at the time.
In association with the appointment, Neubauer — who joined Zevia in August 2022 — received an annual base salary of $384,000 and an annual bonus equal to 50% of her base salary. She was also granted a retention bonus of $140,000, payable in installments of $70,000 within 90 days and $70,000 when a permanent finance chief was found, whichever came first, the company said.
The company’s leadership has taken several steps to foster growth as it faces supply chain snarls, slowing revenues and declining sales in what has become an increasingly competitive field; the zero sugar beverages market is expected to reach a value of $13.1 billion by 2033, according to recent research by Future Market Insights.
In March, Zevia announced a rebrand of its logo and package designs to capitalize on that growth, which helped to support a burst in demand and improved shelf visibility, CEO Amy Taylor said in November during the company’s most recent earnings call. For its third quarter ended Sept. 30, Zevia reported a 2.6% decrease in net sales to $43.1 million and a net loss of $11.3 million.
However, the company also saw “sustained improvement” in areas including its gross profit margin, which increased 2.1 percentage points year-over-year to 45.4%, Taylor — a 20-year veteran of beverage firm Red Bull, who took Zevia’s top executive seat in 2022 after joining as president — said in a statement included in the earnings release.
This is “indicative of the health of the business, and promising innovation performance plus distribution expansion initiatives support our expectations to return to double-digit growth for the future,” she said in the statement. Zevia is expected to report fourth quarter 2023 earnings on Feb. 27.
Zevia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
