Hint Appoints Blair Owens as Chief Executive Officer
[San Francisco, CA, November 16, 2022] Hint, Inc., maker of the market-leading flavored still water, announced the appointment of Blair Owens as Chief Executive Officer, effective November 16, 2022. Owens has served as Interim Chief Executive Officer & Chief Commercial Officer at Hint since November 2021. He was previously Senior Vice President of Beverage at the company, beginning in November 2017. In that role, he helped grow the retail and foodservice businesses by over 35% annually. He has been instrumental in building relationships with and growing the Hint business at some of the world’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Target, Costco, Kroger Corp, and Albertson’s. Owens joined Hint after successful careers at Coca-Cola, Monster Energy, E&J Gallo, and Procter & Gamble.
“Hint has a unique and great-tasting product, a strong brand, and a phenomenal team. Despite an uncertain economic environment this past year, I’m proud to say that we’ve been able to grow the business while enhancing our profitability,” said Owens. “We also launched a number of exciting new innovations including new flavors like Coconut and POG, adding 12oz aluminum cans to our product offering in foodservice accounts, and introducing our new vitamin-enhanced functional beverage, Hint+ Vitamin.”
Hint continues to be an omnichannel leader in the beverage space. It’s available in over 30,000 brick-and-mortar stores around the country, including premier retail chains across the grocery, natural, mass merchandiser, and club channels. The brand is also distributed through foodservice operators in airports, corporate cafeterias, and restaurants. More than a quarter of Hint's business is sold online through its direct-to-consumer website, drinkhint.com, and e-retailers like Amazon.com.
“Hint’s Co-Founders, Kara and Theo Goldin, built a beloved brand and a great company during their time as CEO and COO, respectively. Their vision and passion have helped millions of consumers make healthier choices about what they drink,” said Owens. “I am committed to staying true to the core brand values that they established and look forward to working closely with Kara and Theo as they continue to provide strategic advice to the business in their roles as Directors and valuable shareholders.”
About Hint
Hint is a San Francisco-based beverage company with the mission of helping people fall in love with water by making water taste great. Hint infuses ultra-purified water with natural fruit essences that create unique and surprisingly accurate fruit flavors without adding any sugar, diet sweeteners, or calories. Hint has more than 25 flavors and comes in still and sparkling varieties, as well as a kids’ line. Hint is the #1 unsweetened flavored water in the US according to SPINS/IRi. The brand is sold in traditional retail stores, through foodservice operators, and direct-to-consumers in online channels like drinkhint.com and Amazon.com.
