Chelsea Sobran joins the maker of Sparkling Ice after stints at Keurig Dr Pepper and Nestlé Waters North America, looking to build convenience store growth for the company.
Chelsea Sobran, VP of Convenience Channel, Talking Rain Beverage Co.
Talking Rain Beverage Co., makers of sparkling water brand Sparkling Ice, has hired Chelsea Sobran to be its new vice president of Convenience Channel, in an effort to continue to drive growth in the c-store market for the brand.
In her new role, Sobran will be expected to grow the sales footprint with the largest and most complex retailers in the convenience channel — focused also on making sure Talking Rain products present well on the shelf to potential consumers. She hopes to capitalize on what she believes is a marked transition in c-stores from regular sodas to diet and now toward better-for-you beverages.
Sobran brings a decade’s worth of experience from her time at Nestlé Waters North America in sales, analytics and marketing in Canada and the U.S., as well as her stint as sales vice president at Keurig Dr Pepper. At KDP, she developed and led a sales team in the commercial coffee business unit, covering convenience, foodservice and hospitality channels.
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.
