Lemon Perfect, the fastest-growing brand in the enhanced water category*, announced today the hiring of former Coca-Cola Company executive Jim Brennan as President and Chief Revenue Officer.
Lemon Perfect Founder and CEO Yanni Hufnagel says Brennan is a transformational sales leader who will be instrumental in developing and implementing plans for driving future growth and profitability. "Lemon Perfect is disrupting the enhanced water category by offering a better-for you, better-tasting product that is resonating broadly with the American consumer," Hufnagel said. "Today is a monumental day for Lemon Perfect. Jim is a best-in-industry sales executive and passionate people leader whose experience is unsurpassed. His sales strategy will drive revenue and profit while accelerating Lemon Perfect's rise toward its goal of becoming the number one brand in the multibillion-dollar enhanced water category by market share."
Brennan joined Atlanta-based Lemon Perfect as a Board Member and Operating Advisor in April 2021 after concluding a 32-year run across various sales roles at The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Enterprises. Brennan's day-to-day advisory played a key role in quadrupling Lemon Perfect's revenue in 2021. In his last role at Coca-Cola as Executive Vice President, National Retail Sales, Brennan led total customer management and the strategic selling vision for the top national retail customers across multiple channels of trade. In the role, Brennan was responsible for an $8B+ beverage portfolio and was heralded for his focus on developing people and talent.
"After retiring from The Coca-Cola Company, I thought my full-time roles were complete," said Brennan. "Then I met Yanni. I was motivated by his passion, vision, and unwavering commitment to changing the beverage landscape and making a healthier option accessible to all. Lemon Perfect is simply the best-tasting zero sugar product on the market and has unlimited growth potential. I am honored to lead the highly talented, energized Lemon Perfect team that is charging the hill every day with our distributor partners across the country. We are going to have fun scaling this great brand!"
"Jim is a seasoned beverage industry rockstar," said former Bai Brands Chief Operating Officer and Lemon Perfect Board Member Barak Bar-Cohen. "It is rare to find someone with Jim's experience, sales prowess, and tenacity who has the passion and drive to lead a commercial organization through triple-digit hypergrowth. On behalf of the Board, I would like to congratulate Yanni and Jim on this exciting new chapter in the Lemon Perfect journey. We are all delighted to have Jim in the C-suite alongside Yanni and the rest of the Lemon Perfect team."
In April, the Company announced the closing of a $31 million Series A headlined by internationally celebrated award-winning artist and entrepreneur Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. The financing brought Lemon Perfect's total valuation to over $100 million in less than three years from the Company's selling its first bottle.