Icelandic Glacial, the super-premium natural spring water from Iceland, today announced that it has appointed Reza Mirza as Chief Executive Officer of its North American operations, effective immediately. In this role, Reza will be responsible for sales, marketing and distribution of Icelandic Glacial in North America. Reza previously held the position of President at Activate Drinks and has held management positions with many leading brands, including Nestle Waters North America and Colgate-Palmolive in New York. Co-founder, Kristjan Olafsson, will remain involved in the day-to-day operations of the company but will now focus on product innovation and developing new markets world-wide.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Reza Mirza at Icelandic Glacial at this time of exceptional growth for the company,” commented Jon Olafsson, Chairman and Co-founder, Icelandic Glacial. “Mirza is a proven leader with extraordinary experience in the beverage industry and he will be a tremendous asset to us as we continue to grow the brand.”
With nearly 20 years of consumer product experience, Mirza most recently served as President of Activate Drinks where he grew the company in key markets through increased distribution while driving double digit same store sales and increased brand awareness. It was under his leadership that Activate gained new distribution in key retailers in the Northeast, while growing the brand organically at Southern California retailers, who witnessed double digit growth in same store sales. He has also held several management positions at Nestle Waters North America where he managed a portfolio of brands with $1bn in sales and successfully led company-wide initiatives to drive growth. Prior to Nestle, he held numerous marketing positions with Colgate-Palmolive where he managed and grew sales of the toothbrush business. He also worked at Bosch in his native India, helping to launch Blaupunkt car audio into the Indian market. Reza is a master’s graduate in International Affairs and International Business from Columbia University in New York City. He also earned his MBA from the International Management Institute in New Delhi, India, and holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Madras in India.
