Better Sour taps Ed Schultz as chief strategy officer
The hire was formerly CEO of Hawaiian Host Group and is the incoming NCA chair.
Better Sour, the Hawai’i-rooted, Austin-based brand aiming to redefine sour candy for flavor-forward consumers, announced the appointment of Ed Schultz as chief strategy officer. Schultz, the former president and CEO of Hawaiian Host Group—the roasted and chocolate-covered macadamia nut company—reportedly joins Better Sour at a pivotal growth moment, just weeks after the brand’s launch of its Tropical Sour Gummy Shells line and expansion into Whole Foods Market stores nationwide this June.
The appointment formalizes Schultz’s deepening commitment to Better Sour, which co-founders Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou launched three years ago. With Better Sour now in over 4,000 stores nationwide and executing a dual-formulation strategy, which pairs its original low-sugar, allulose-sweetened Sour Gummy Stars with the newly launched tropical line of Sour Gummy Shells that use fair trade vegan cane sugar as their sweetener—Schultz’s experience scaling premium, Hawai’i-rooted CPG brands into global distribution makes him a natural strategic partner for the brand’s next chapter, Better Sour notes.
“Ed has spent his career building category-defining brands that honor where they come from while reaching consumers everywhere,” says co-founders Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou. “He took Hawaiian Host and Mauna Loa into all 50 states and over 20 countries. He grew Honolulu Coffee from five stores to one of the world’s most integrated specialty coffee operations. As we expand our portfolio to serve both reduced-sugar and fair trade vegan cane sugar consumers, with the latter product line playing in more traditional confectionary, having Ed’s hand on strategy is a game changer. He shares our DNA: Hawai’i roots, premium quality, and a long-game mindset on building brands the right way.”
Schultz currently serves as vice chair of the National Confectioners Association (NCA) and will assume the role of NCA chair in March 2027. In 2023, he was named the NCA’s Advocate of the Year for his work supporting the industry at the federal and state levels.
Schultz is also the founder and managing partner of Parallel 21 Partners, a private equity firm focused on acquiring, investing in, and growing Hawai’i-based businesses. He is also vice chair of the East-West Center in Honolulu, a member of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank’s Economic Advisory Council and serves on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in Washington, DC.
Previously, Schultz served as president and CEO of Hawaiian Host Group from September 2018 until March 2026, leading the company’s Hawaiian Host and Mauna Loa brands and managing 4,000 acres of macadamia orchards on Hawai’i Island. He moved to Hawai’i in 2008 after acquiring Honolulu Coffee, which under his leadership grew from five stores to more than 40 cafes across Hawai’i, Tokyo, Vancouver, and Guam, while operating its own 230-acre Kona coffee estate. Earlier in his career, Schultz worked on equity investments and leveraged buyouts at BNP Paribas and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch in New York.
“Better Sour is one of the most exciting brands I’ve seen come out of the confectionery space in years,” says Schultz. “Bella and Semira have built something genuinely differentiated, premium and flavor-led, with a clear point of view on what modern candy can be. The recent Tropical Sour Gummy Shells launch is a textbook example of category leadership: meeting consumers across both reduced-sugar and cane sugar preferences, at meaningful price points, without compromising on flavor or ingredient integrity. I’m thrilled to go deeper with the team as we scale what they’ve started.”
Schultz’s appointment comes as Better Sour broadens its retail footprint. The brand’s new Mango and Watermelon Yuzu Sour Gummy Shells—sweetened with fair trade vegan cane sugar and joined by a third tropical flavor, Lychee—debuts in Whole Foods Market stores nationwide this June as a limited summer offering, introducing Better Sour’s tropical flavor profile, inspired by the fruits Hughes and Nikou grew up eating in Hawai’i, to consumers coast-to-coast. Additional retail accounts are expected to be announced later this year.
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
