CHICAGO -- Phusion Projects LLC has promoted Eric Schaper to serve as manager of the Frontier Region--a new division of distribution for the company. The move is designed to help manage the markets that are at the start of their growth stage.
"We recognize each market possesses unique challenges and requires a dedicated and specific set of skills to enhance growth," said Chris Hunter, co-founder of Phusion Projects, the makers of Four Loko, Poco Loko and Earthquake alcoholic beverages. "This is a testament to our continued commitment to establish and develop relationships with distributors and provide a full portfolio of brands to our customers."
The market, which the company expects to sell just under 400,000 cases this year, holds unlimited potential and will benefit from an aggressive, fresh approach. In addition, the introduction of the new region will allow the existing successful regions to focus on established markets to grow the multi-brand portfolio to its full potential.
Markets in the region include the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Last week, Chicago-based Phusion Projects announced that it has promoted Jim Sloan to executive vice president of sales and shifted from three sales divisions to two.
Sloan, who joined Phusion in 2010, will oversee the entire Phusion portfolio of products and report directly to the company three co-founders. He has 22 years of experience in the beer industry and previously served as the vice president of the East division. Sloan has held leadership positions at Heineken USA and Star Brand Imports.
"The move to realign our sales function comes at a time when we are expanding our array of products to provide multiple brands in our portfolio," said Hunter. "We believe Jim is the perfect person to lead these efforts thanks to his creative sales strategies and familiarity with our company."
The new streamlined structure allows successful practices to be easily transferred from market-to-market, helping Phusion satisfy customer demand.
Meanwhile, Four Loko is again the focus of a campaign urging federal regulators to take some buzz out of a sweet alcoholic drink, reported the Associated Press. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking at complaints about the popular fruit-flavored malt liquor, said the report. Under review: the amount of alcohol in the brightly colored, supersized cans and how they are marketed.
The drink gained national attention in 2010 following the hospitalization of college students in New Jersey and Washington state. Some states banned the drink, worried about the caffeine in Four Loko and its potential to mask how much alcohol one could safely consume. Amid a crackdown by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the drink's makers removed the caffeine and started selling Four Loko without the energy kick.
The FTC's Janet Evans said there are limits to the commission's authority. "If I had a magic wand, this would be a smaller product with less alcohol," Evans, a senior staff attorney, told AP. "But I do not have a wand. I operate within my agency's jurisdiction, and the FTC does not have the jurisdiction to ban this product or to force a company to limit its size or potency."
What the commission can do, Evans said, is regulate how alcohol is marketed to prevent deception about alcohol content.
Phusion told the news agency that it could not comment on the pending settlement. The company has maintained that its packaging does not contain statements or graphics that are misleading or intended to attract underage drinkers.
(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of Four Loko.)
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