Goldman, TeaEO of Honest Tea, elected to American Beverage Association BOE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Beverage Association (ABA) today announced the appointment of Mr. Seth Goldman, president and TeaEO of Honest Tea, to its board of directors.

“Seth’s expertise on an array of issues important to the beverage industry will be an asset to the ABA board of directors,” Larry D. Young, chair of ABA’s board of directors, and president and chief executive officer of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, said. “We look forward to having him as part of the team as we work together to further strengthen America’s beverage industry.”

“The American Beverage Association is going to keep building on our successful nutrition, environment and education initiatives, and we are glad to have Seth as one of our leaders,” Susan K. Neely, ABA president and chief executive officer, said.

“After starting Honest Tea out of my home, it is an honor, and a little surreal to join the ABA board of directors,” Mr. Goldman said. “The beverage industry is undergoing some dramatic changes and I look forward to working as part of the ABA to make progress on the issues and challenges we face.”

Mr. Goldman is president and TeaEO of Honest Tea, the company he co-founded in 1998 with Professor Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management. Honest Tea was the first to market certified organic bottled tea, as well as Fair Trade Certified™ bottled tea. In 2008, the Coca-Cola Company purchased a minority interest in Honest Tea. In addition to being named one of The Better World Shopping Guide’s “ten best companies on the planet based on their overall social and environmental record,” Honest Tea recently received Greenopia.com’s coveted 4-Leaf Rating as the “greenest beverage company” two years in a row.

Before launching Honest Tea, Mr. Goldman worked at Calvert Group, where he managed the marketing and sales efforts for the nation’s largest family of socially responsible mutual funds. Other previous work includes managing a corporate initiative to combat child labor for the Calvert Foundation, directing an AmeriCorps demonstration project in Baltimore and serving as deputy press secretary to Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX). And in 2008, Mr. Goldman co-founded Bethesda Green, a local sustainability initiative in Honest Tea’s hometown.

Mr. Goldman serves on the board of directors of Happy Baby, and is a member of Net Impact’s Advisory Board. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Yale University School of Management, and has received Net Impact’s 2009 Member Achievement Award and Ernst & Young’s 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Mid-Atlantic region. He also is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.