Talking Rain Beverage Company® Announces Executive Transition

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Mar 10, 2017, 16:00 ET

PRESTON, Wash., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Talking Rain Beverage Company^®, the maker of Sparkling Ice^®, today announced the departure of its President and CEO, Kevin Klock.

Chief Financial Officer Marcus Smith has assumed the responsibilities with full shareholder support. Senior leadership is working closely together with Smith to ensure a seamless transition in the continued execution of strategies in place, and to guarantee that customers and distributors will be serviced at the highest level. Current plans, partners, and forward momentum will remain as Talking Rain continues to position the company for a successful future as part of the ever-changing beverage landscape.

Marcus Smith joined Talking Rain as Chief Financial Officer in early 2014, and has been responsible for finance, accounting, information technology, supply chain and strategic planning. Prior to Talking Rain, Smith served as Chief Financial Officer at Mobisante, and Chief Financial Officer of SonoSite, Inc., a publicly traded (NASDAQ) company. He received his bachelor's degree in public policy from Duke University, a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University, as well as a master's degree in business administration from Columbia University.

About Talking Rain^® Beverage Company
An iconic brand in the Seattle-area for more than 29 years, Talking Rain is a Washington-based beverage company situated in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. This innovative company is outselling global brands in flavor-categories across the U.S., while beginning to find success internationally with the brand's bold-flavored, lightly carbonated sparkling water.

A part of the Talking Rain product portfolio for over 20 years, Sparkling Ice beverages were often overlooked, until a major organizational shift in 2010 where the new leadership team refocused the company's efforts on this diamond in the rough. At that time, Talking Rain started to build a strong marketing, sales and manufacturing team to focus efforts on this flavored, zero-calorie carbonated beverage, which was quietly building a strong following in the Northwest since entering the marketplace.

Since 2011, this strategic focus on Sparkling Ice has ignited the brand, resulting in 5900% sales growth from 2010-2015, and surpassing $650 million in sales that same year.

SOURCE Talking Rain Beverage Company