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Better Sour adds to its advisory board

Eric Mangan and Katherine Rice are both longtime CPG veterans.

Better Sour taps Eric Mangan, Katherine Rice for advisory board — Eric Mangan and Katherine Rice. Courtesy of Better Sour

Better Sour has announced the appointment of longtime CPG veterans Eric Mangan and Katherine Rice to its advisory board.

Eric Mangan is the VP of foodservice sales at Spindrift Beverage Co, a beverage brand that was majority acquired by Gryphon Investors earlier this year. Mangan is also board chair for Naturally Austin and a member of The Angel Group. With 25 years of experience in the CPG space, he brings a deep background in startup growth, strategic partnerships, and brand-building.

Rice is a partner at GingerBread Capital, which is also an early investor in Better Sour, where she leads investments in and champions women-led businesses. A seasoned investor and operator, she brings expertise in the retail and consumer sectors. Rice previously served as a senior executive at Williams-Sonoma, operating partner at Altamont Capital, and manager at Bain & Co., and she began her career in investment banking on Wall Street. She is also the founder of RCP, a strategic advisory firm helping consumer businesses scale. Katherine has served as an independent board director and strategic advisor to numerous private growth companies, bringing a sharp operational lens to scaling, transformation, and long-term value creation.

“Eric and Katherine bring a wealth of CPG experience and are true champions for startup founders,” shares Semira Nikou, co-founder and CEO of Better Sour. “Bella and I have had the opportunity to get to know them over their years and their deep belief in what we’re building, coupled with their high-level expertise on key areas of the consumer space, will be invaluable for this next phase of growth, making them strategic additions to our invaluable advisory board with whom we work closely,” Nikou adds.

Last month, Better Sour announced an undisclosed close of a seven-figure capital round to support the brand’s continued retail expansion–with Taste Tomorrow Ventures, a newly established CPG fund, closing the round.

Better Sour’s retail expansion this summer includes launches with Thrive and Coborn’s, as well as on select United Airlines routes. The brand is currently available in more than 3,300 doors with major retail partners such as Sprouts nationwide, The Fresh Market, Erewhon, Fresh Thyme, W.H. Smith, Harris Teeter, Central Market, Foodland, Ralphs, Fairway Market, and select Albertsons, Hy-Vee, Target, H-E-B, and ShopRite banners.

Better Sour’s other existing advisory board members are Douglas MacFarlane and Ed Schultz. MacFarlane is the current board chair of Larry & Lenny’s, serves as a board advisor to Pocket’s Chocolates, and is a board member to Global Harvest Foods and Fine Choice Foods. MacFarlane previously served as CEO of Chosen Foods and CEO of SmartSweets, amongst other roles in the CPG industry. Schultz is currently the president and CEO of Hawaiian Host Group, is an economic advisory board member to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and the vice chair - board of governors for the East-West Center. Schultz previously was the president of Honolulu Coffee Company and a board member of Tradewind Group.