Aqua Vie Names Rickard VP of Beverage Technology

Aqua Vie Beverage Corp. (Ketchum, ID) has named industry flavor expert, Veronica Rickard VP of beverage technology. In this newly created position, Rickard will oversee product formulation and development for the entire Aqua Vie product line.

"Ms. Rickard is a seasoned and well-respected professional, with extensive experience in the food and beverage industries," said Tom Gillespie, Aqua Vie founder and chairman. "She is exceptionally knowledgeable concerning the industry, its products and its participants."

Rickard's expertise includes beverage formula development, flavoring and fragrances, co-packing, quality assurance, sensory evaluations, and marketing trends. Her tenure at Kraft/General Foods included research and development and marketing on such products as RTD (ready-to-drink) Kool-Aid, RTD Tang, and RTD Crystal Light. She has shepherded a number of products from the bench-top to national production, and her broad-based industry experience includes in-store inventory control and related aspects of the food and beverage business.

In recognition of her innovative contributions to General Foods, Rickard received the General Foods "Award of Excellence for Exceptional Achievement in Building the Business," and the General Foods "Technical Research Innovation Award." Most recently prior to joining Aqua Vie, Rickard was a beverage technologist with International Flavors & Fragrances (Dayton, NJ).

Formerly an applications manager and beverage manager with Philadelphia-based David Michael & Co., Rickard has engaged in prototype development and R&D for a number of national food and beverage companies.