Reed’s CEO Cyril Wallace has exited the US soft drinks company after less than a year in the position.
Chief operating officer Neal Cohane has been named the company’s interim CEO, Reed’s said.
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The leadership changes were announced alongside the ginger ale maker’s accounts for 2025 yesterday (24 March), which saw a drop in both sales and earnings in the full-year and fourth quarter.
Wallace, a former PepsiCo executive, was appointed CEO at Reed’s in April last year.
In a statement, Michael Tu, board director of Reed’s, said: “The board is grateful for Cyril’s contributions to Reed’s, and for laying the foundation for the next phase of growth for the business.”
Cohane was only appointed chief operating officer at Reed’s in January. Before joining the company’s leadership team, he was chief sales officer at Eastroc Beverage.
He also founded Rootstock Brands, where he advised beverage businesses on go-to-market strategy and execution.
Cohane also previously spent more than 15 years at Reed’s as chief sales officer. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at PepsiCo, SoBe and The Coca-Cola Company.
“Neal’s deep understanding of Reed’s, combined with his extensive experience scaling beverage brands, makes him an ideal executive to ensure a seamless transition as Reed’s enters its next phase of growth,” said Shufen Deng, chairperson the Reed’s board.
Reed’s also shared yesterday that Tina Reejsinghani has left the company as chief marketing officer (CMO). Board member Rudolf Bakker will step in as “outsourced fractional CMO”.
Founded in 1989, Reed’s makes drinks under the Reed’s, Virgil’s and Flying Cauldron brands. Its products are sold in more than 45,000 retail locations in the US.
In its results for last year, Reed’s net sales fell more than 10% to $34.1m on the previous year. The group made a loss at the EBITDA level of $14.6m compared to $7.3m in 2024.
Gross profit declined to $7m from $11.4m, with gross margin at 20% versus 30% in 2024.
For the 12 months ended 31 December, the company reported a net loss of $15.8m, compared with $13.2m a year earlier.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, net sales slumped 22% to $7.5m, while Reed’s made an EBITDA loss of $3.6m versus $3.1m in the same period last year.
Net loss for the quarter narrowed to $3.8m from $4.1m in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Reflecting on the year, now interim CEO Cohane said: “The company made important strides during the fourth quarter to stabilise the business and reinforce the operational framework needed to support sustainable growth.
“We also saw sequential quarterly improvement in net sales, gross margin, and net loss, reflecting early progress in our efforts to improve operating performance. We achieved encouraging sequential quarter sales growth with select natural, specialty, grocery, mass, and e-commerce customers primarily driven by increased retail velocity and seasonal product offerings.”
“Our focus remains on profitable growth. We will continue to leverage our in-house sales team with outsourced national brokers to secure new customer and shelf space opportunities. We will also keep expanding the reach of our direct store distribution network, investing in brand marketing and product innovation, optimising operating efficiency, and expanding across Asia.”
