KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – Ola Brew, a Hawaii-based brewery, is ecstatic to welcome seasoned industry veteran, Jason Pond, to their team as Chief Operating Officer. Approaching their fourth year in operation, the Kailua-Kona, HI brewery gears up for an exciting and growth focused 2022, and beyond, with continued emphasis on growing their beer, hard cider, hard seltzer and hard teas footprint in Hawaii.
After a dedicated search to find the right addition to their team, Brett Jacobson, CEO of Ola Brew is “ready to take Ola to the next level; more production, more efficiencies, which always translates for us into our mission impact. Having excelled in his career and working in every aspect of brewery operations, Jason has pioneered his own success in the brewing industry with drive, ingenuity and purpose, and we are so happy to welcome him into our Ola Ohana.” In four short years, Ola Brew has grown their barrelage to 15,000bbls/year through innovating new products based on what fruits and botanicals are seasonally available in Hawaii, and targeting to increase barrelege 20,000bbls in 2022.
Pond started on the back of a canning line at Oskar Blues and quickly moved to Head Brewer for two years, then moved to Cellar Master at Firestone Walker for six years, to Head of Production and Master Brewer at the independent brewery behemoth, BrewDog; all experiences that informed him and his teams of his passion and ability to build productive teams. At BrewDog he created and refined hundreds of new and existing beer recipes, while managing 4 production Brewery locations. In the three years that Pond was at BrewDog, he helped to grow the total barrelege at Brewdog from 200,000 to 500,000. Most recently Pond was at Hangar 24 as the Vice President of Brewing Operations before pursuing the position as Chief Operating Officer with Ola Brew.
In joining the Ola team, Jason’s wealth of experience fuels his dedication to precision and building systems and efficiencies. The newly appointed COO also sees equal importance in time invested into individuals, team dynamics, company culture, and continually discovering and rediscovering the organizations “why”. In taking this position, Jason is “most excited to be a part of a company that truly cares about their community and about giving back. I am ready for a new set of challenges and looking forward to bringing my experiences over the years and applying them here.” Welcome to the team Jason Pond.
About Ola Brew
Ola Brew is an employee and community owned brewery whose mission is to increase Hawaii’s agricultural economy through sourcing Hawaii-grown ingredients and incorporating them into their beverages. The brewery has organically driven the beyond beer space in Hawaii, as the first locally produced hard seltzer and hard teas while also brewing up delicious beers and hard ciders sourcing Hawaii’s abundant agriculture. True to their mission, Ola Brew has sourced and purchased over $1.2M in local agriculture since their inception in Dec. 2017.