MIAMI, Florida – Following a year of tremendous growth, Volley, the first clean tequila seltzer on the market, announces today the appointment of three new executive team members, Tom Spaven (formerly of Bacardi USA) as Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Heslep (formerly of Stoli Group) as Chief Sales Officer and Nick Papanicolaou (of Pernod Ricard) as Senior Advisor. Bringing a wealth of industry experience and knowledge to the Volley team, the three new hires arrive on the heels of Volley’s recent expansion into over ten states, since launching in July 2020.
- Tom Spaven as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO): Prior to Volley, Spaven was at Bacardi where he spent almost nine years, most recently serving as North America Brand Director for Bombay Sapphire Gin. He also led global and U.S. marketing efforts for Grey Goose Vodka. He is highly skilled when it comes to developing brand strategy, insights & communications and programming with commercial & distributor teams.
- Chris Heslep as Chief Sales Officer (CSO): Heslep comes to Volley after a 14-year career managing supplier and distributor relations for beer, spirits and wine portfolios at MillerCoors, Schenck Company, Beam Suntory, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Stoli Group USA. During his time in these roles Chris has covered 15 states across the US and led teams of high performing individuals covering the on premise, off premise and chain business.
- Nick Papanicolaou as Senior Advisor: In addition to joining Volley as an advisor, Papanicolaou currently oversees Castle Brands at Pernod Ricard, a $60M sales business, and sits on several startup Boards in addition to Pernod Ricard’s Audit Committee and M&A team. Prior to that, he ran the Incubate Brands, a $20M business within Pernod Ricard’s New Brand Ventures division. Nick has helped to deploy over $700M in capital into small and emerging brands.
“It’s been an incredible year of expansion for the Volley team, and the sky is truly the limit for what we can accomplish with these experienced new hires on board,” said Christopher Wirth, co-founder and CEO of Volley. “As we near one year of Volley and continue on a path of exponential growth, it was crucial for us to bring on executive team members that matched our vision and goals for the brand, as an award-winning leader in the seltzer space. Tom, Chris and Nick do just that and more, and we cannot wait to work with them as we continue to show the world what the cleanest seltzer on the market tastes like.”
Volley is now available for purchase in ten states (NY, NJ, GA, TN, KY, RI, MA, AZ, SC, FL) at a suggested retail price of $14.99 for a four can variety-pack or single flavor four-pack, or individually at $3.75 per 355ml can.
About Volley
Founded by industry experts and husband and wife, Christopher Wirth and Camila Soriano, Volley is a new line of award-winning tequila-based seltzers that combines three clean ingredients: 100% blue agave tequila, sparkling water and organic juice. As the first clean tequila seltzer on the market, Volley has eliminated commonly-used fake sugars, natural flavorings, essences and corn syrup (unlike most other canned offerings on the market). Mixed with 100% organic fruit juice never from concentrate, Volley is available in four classic flavors: Zesty Lime, Spicy Ginger, Sharp Grapefruit and Tropical Mango. Volley embodies its can-do minded values to outdoor sustainability through a proud partnership with Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the outdoors.
For More Information:
https://drinkvolley.com/