IZZE Beverage Company
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Beverage |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Boulder, Colorado, United States |
|
Key people
|
Todd Woloson and Greg Stroh |
| Products | IZZE, Izze-esque |
| Parent | PepsiCo |
| Website | www.izze.com |
The Izze Beverage Co. was founded in February 2002 by Todd Woloson and Greg Stroh, and based in Boulder, Colorado. The company was named after Woloson’s daughter, Isabella. The company’s goal was to create healthy fruit juice and sparkling water beverages that would help support struggling communities. The founders were inspired by European sodas.
The business was privately owned for four years until it was bought by PepsiCo. in September 2006. Pepsi left Izze at their headquarters in Boulder and left their distributing system untouched. Pepsi’s main goal was to help develop the Izze brand, introduce new consumers to both the Pepsi and Izze brands, and get PepsiCo. products into health food stores.
Todd Woloson and Greg Stroh were out to lunch one day, when they came up with the idea for the Izze Beverage Co.. They wanted to create a drink that mixed all-natural fruit juices and sparkling water. The idea was inspired both by Woloson’s wife who liked mixing juice and sparkling water, and by some european drinks Woloson and Stroh had recently tried. When the company first started out, they had nothing but $200,000 of family and friend’s money, and one phone line. When the first shipment of drinks went out, Woloson and Stroh took the drinks in their cars to the Ideal Market. The store took them and they stocked the shelves right then and there. The first four flavors were Pear, Lemon, Blackberry, and Grapefruit. Clementine, Blueberry, and Pomegranate showed up later. By 2003, the business had taken off. The brand was selling in Wild Oats and 7-Eleven stores across the country and in most Colorado grocery stores. The beverage was also beginning to show up at Starbucks stores in San Francisco, CA. and Houston, TX.
In August 2005, the company had appointed Maile Buker as Vice President of Marketing. Buker received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and International Affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was also very active in the community, which helped her in her job working for Izze.
In January 2006, Izze introduced the 8.4oz can size. This was mainly manufactured for children, as they were they had sized it to fit in a lunchbox or accompany afterschool snacks.
In April 2006, Izze appointed John Bello, founder and CEO of SoBe, as their chairman of the board. Bello brought strong executive discipline that helped Izze redefine softdrinks and helped solidify Izze’s leadership position in the marketplace.
In September 2006, Izze was bought out by PepsiCo.. Up until this point, the Izze Beverage Co. had been privately owned. Pepsi bought Izze for $75 million. At the time many people were unsure as to what this would do for the company. However, Pepsi assured the public that they had no plans to change the distribution or manufacturing of the product in any way. They continued to let Izze run as an independent unit in Boulder, Co.. Pepsi sent one of their marketing agents out to Colorado to help the company grow. Both Izze and Pepsi benefitted from the sale as they both gained a new consumer base.
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Wikipedia