THE 86 COMPANY ANNOUNCES A TALENTED NEW ADDITION TO ITS OUTSTANDING & GROWING TEAM

Inspired by and for Bartenders, the Award Wining Spirits Portfolio is thrilled to bring on a NEW Vice President of Sales

The 86 Company (“The 86 Co.”) is very excited to announce the newest member of its growing team, Bryan Townsend, who has been brought on as Vice President of Sales. Townsend, an influential and talented spirits industry veteran, will act as the national liaison between The 86 Co.’s distributers and its on/off premise accounts.

Townsend has spent his career working with some of the world’s best spirits and bartenders, and is widely respected and loved by the cocktail community. Before coming to The 86 Co, Townsend worked with Cooper Spirits, where he helped launch St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur in the U.S and was an instrumental part in building the brand until it was sold to Bacardi in 2012. Along with his dedication to his professional work, Townsend has also been extremely passionate in helping his community and in 2009, started a charity for hospitalized children across Texas called Trigger’s Toys, which has raised over $500k to fund toys, hospital equipment and financial aid for families with medical expenses throughout the year. This has also become one of the leading industry charity causes in the country and is widely supported by bartenders, spirits brands and the United States Bartenders Guild Chapters.

“We are extremely excited to bring on Bryan Townsend as VP of Sales to The 86 Co. team, “ says 86 Co. Founder Simon Ford. “At three years old, we have spent the past couple of years finding the right people to join 86 Co. and with Bryan kicking off 2015, we are poised to make some big moves and serious noise this year.”

While Bryan is the first hire of the year, in 2014 The 86 Co. quietly brought on several new additions to its team. One of the bigger hires included Sharon Bronstein as The 86 Co.’s Marketing Director. Prior to joining The 86 Co., Sharon worked at Legacy Marketing Partners, activating countless consumer and trade marketing initiatives for Pernod Ricard and, during her time there became known for exceptional Absolut events.

In addition, last year, The 86 Co. also bought on full-time Brand Ambassadors for some of its key markets. The Brand Ambassadors are a big part of getting The 86 Co. message out there and for that reason, the founders took their time finding people that were culturally right for their 86 Co. family as well as well-rounded bartenders. In May 2014, the company hired its first ambassador for Texas, Omar YeeFoon, who started off as rock musician, then moved on to being tour manager for Reverend Horton Heat before leaving music to start his bar career. He worked and ran multiple bars and their programs from Irish pubs to some of the most mixology focused cocktail bars like Cedars Social and Smyth in Dallas.. Following YeeFoon, the New York arm of The 86 Co. grew with the addition of Martim Smith-Mattsson. Before joining The 86 Co., Martim was the bar manager of Acme in NoHo and a vital part of the next generation turning people onto craft cocktails. Martim also worked as an ambassador for Plymouth Gin, the same spirit where 86 Co. Founder Simon Ford got his start. The most recent member to join the Brand Ambassador team is Kevin Dowell, who, last November, was brought into the fold as The 86 Co.’s first envoy to the Northwest. Based in San Francisco, Dowell previously represented Aviation Gin and has run some amazing bar programs, most recently at Foreign Cinema.

The 86 Co. team is thrilled to bring on Bryan Townsend as the newest addition to its growing family. Along with this new hire and the new team members from last year, 2015 is shaping up to be a huge year for the “Noise & Spirits” award-winning portfolio, and, they couldn’t be more excited to embark on the continued expansion of their business.

###

Contact: 

Shannon Fischer
shannon@handcraftedpr.com