Life Up LLC, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based importer and distributor of Foco coconut water announced the appointment of Donna Bimbo as chief executive officer and Bob D’Amico as chief marketing officer.
As a Snapple veteran, Bimbo launched Snapple in more than 40 countries during her term as senior director of international business for the brand. D’Amico has worked for Vasinee Food Corp., the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based parent company of Life Up LLC, for 20 years and prior to that worked in various sales and marketing positions, including project director for new beverage products at Thomas J. Lipton, a Unilever company. He also worked for 18 years as a co-owner of a food brokerage company concentrating on sales to the ethnic markets.
“We are very excited to be in a position to draw such talent to our team”, said Vasinee Food Corp. Owner Nina Vasinee, in a statement.
The Foco brand was established in the 1980s to manufacture coconut beverages along with its line of exotic tropical fruit drinks. In 2012, Thai Agri Food Co., the parent company of the brand, launched a new line of 100% Pure Coconut Water packaged in Tetra Pak cartons as the popularity and demand for all-natural coconut water skyrocketed, the company says.
Vasinee Food Corp., an importer and distributor of Thai and Asian food products, is the exclusive importer of Foco 100% Pure Coconut Water and sells more than 24 million cans of Foco each year in the United States. The company plans to increase sales through product and packaging innovation as well as increased points of distribution, Bimbo said in a statement.
