Peter van Stolk,
president and CEO of Jones Soda, will address the 600 AHBA
members expected to attend the conference, says Grant Ainsley,
AHBA executive director.
“This announcement means both keynote speakers have Alberta
ties in our centennial year,” says Ainsley.
“Alvin Law, who speaks on Saturday (Sept. 24), is from
Calgary, and van Stolk spent time living in Edmonton,
attending Grant MacEwan Community College.”
Van Stolk has served as founder, president, CEO and a
director of Jones Soda since 1987.
He began his career in the beverage industry in 1987 when
he founded Urban Hand Ltd., a predecessor to Urban Juice &
Soda Company Ltd.
The company operated until 1995 as a distributor of
alternative beverages in Western Canada.
In 1995, van Stolk initiated the creation and launch of the
company’s own brands, WAZU Natural Spring Water and Jones Soda
Co.
The company launched Jones Soda in early 1996 and has since
focused the majority of its efforts on building distribution
and sales of Jones Soda Co.
Van Stolk has been recognized for his unique branding
approach by such publications as Advertising Age, Inc.
Magazine, the New York Times, CNN, and People Magazine.
The company is perhaps best known for allowing everyday
people to send in photos that end up on the labels of the
bottles.
According to Ainsley, van Stolk is a marketing
maverick.
“He has a unique and interactive approach to
grounding his products, an intense connection to his consumers
and an uncanny ability to predict trends,” he says.
“He entered the highly competitive beverage industry,
learned the rules and then promptly rejected them.
“Van Stolk has been able to attract attention by setting
his products apart from the rest and developing an emotional
bond with his customers.
“While he’s been in the beverage industry for close to two
decades, his messages about marketing and customer service
should hit home with Alberta’s home-building industry.”
Ainsley reminds AHBA members this year’s conference will be
limited to 600 registrants, with only 50 registrations still
available and that the entry deadline for the Awards of
Excellence is 4:30 p.m., Friday June 24.
