The Hire
Crooked Pop, the USDA-certified organic, zero-sugar, gluten-free hard soda brand founded by Bai creator Ben Weiss, has appointed Lee Schill as Chief Commercial Officer. Schill steps into the role with a mandate to build out distributor partnerships, sharpen channel strategy, and drive velocity gains as the brand pushes beyond its East Coast foothold into new markets across retail, convenience, and on-premise.
Schill arrives from Zevia, where he served as Senior Director of Distribution, bringing direct experience scaling a zero-sugar better-for-you soda brand through the grocery and natural/specialty channel. Before Zevia, he logged 20 years at Diageo in roles spanning retail, convenience, club, and on-premise — a channel mix that aligns squarely with Crooked Pop's multi-channel ambitions. The pairing puts Weiss's consumer brand-building pedigree — Bai was acquired by Dr Pepper Snapple Group for $1.7 billion in 2016 — alongside a CCO with deep distributor network relationships on both the alcohol and BFY soda sides of the business.
Distribution Momentum
Crooked Pop launched along the East Coast in April at Total Wine and Harris Teeter, giving the brand early footing in premium alcohol retail and conventional grocery. More significantly, the brand recently signed with Reyes Beverage Group, the Illinois-based mega wholesaler whose footprint spans dozens of major markets — a distribution deal that dramatically expands the brand's TDP potential heading into 2027 planning cycles. Crooked Pop has also secured first-mover on-premise positioning as the Official Hard Soda of the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, providing high-trial environments that can translate to retail pull-through.
"Lee has spent his career building the distributor relationships and commercial infrastructure that determine whether a beverage succeeds, and his experience across both alcohol and zero-sugar soda makes him uniquely qualified to help us build Crooked Pop into a national brand," said Weiss.
Category & Competitive Context
The hard soda segment remains a contested whitespace within the broader ready-to-drink alcohol category, which has seen sustained volume growth as consumers trade into sessionable, lower-ABV formats. Crooked Pop is positioning itself at the intersection of two of the strongest consumer trends in the beverage aisle: zero-sugar and better-for-you credentials, and alcohol occasion formats that fit alongside hard seltzers and hard teas. The brand's proprietary OSAVA fermentation process — an ancient-grain-derived neutral base — is central to its ingredient-transparency pitch, a message that has resonated with retailers prioritizing better-for-you beverage sets on their planograms.
Schill framed the commercial opportunity in practical distributor terms: "Crooked Pop is the rare case where the liquid itself is genuinely different. My job is to make sure the commercial infrastructure keeps pace, from the distributor network and channel strategy to execution at retail." For a startup brand at this stage, that infrastructure — slotting execution, TPR programs, and end-cap placement secured through distributor reps — will determine whether strong trial converts into sustainable turns.
The brand's celebrity equity investor roster, including NFL players Brandon Graham and Rondé Barber, NBA star Trae Young, and musician Zac Brown, adds marketing leverage that can support in-store programs. Brands competing in the alcohol beverage RTD space increasingly rely on talent-backed social proof to earn retailer attention and consumer trial in a crowded cooler door set. With the Reyes relationship in place and a CCO who has navigated both three-tier alcohol distribution and DSD-adjacent BFY soda channels, Crooked Pop enters the second half of 2026 with a credible infrastructure play to match its brand story.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
