Jones Soda appoints new CEO as 4Q loss narrows

Jones Soda promoted Joth Ricci to president and chief executive effective May 1, at the same time it announced a fourth-quarter loss of $3.4 million, or 13 cents a share.

The quarterly loss narrowed 67 percent from a $10.2 million loss, or 39 cents, a year ago.

Ricci, 41, has been the Seattle soda company's chief operating officer for a little over a year and succeeds Stephen Jones, who will stay on the board.

"Joth has proved his ability to execute over the course of this transitional year, and we are confident that he is the right choice to lead the ongoing evolution and development of Jones Soda," Jones said in a news release.

Jones Soda expects its profit to improve every quarter this year, Ricci said in a telephone interview. "We're focused on the things we can control," he said.

Formerly general manager of Portland-based Columbia Distributing, which distributes Jones Soda and other beverages, Ricci is part of a turnaround team hired after founder Peter van Stolk stepped down as CEO in December 2007.

The company had run into trouble with a plan to distribute its canned sodas nationwide, sending profits down 98 percent in mid-2007.

Ricci and Jones went on a hiring binge in mid-2008, sending the company past the 100-employee mark.

"You can go back in a nice little corner and sell bottles in skate shops, but you must get into the mainstream of the game to increase the value of the company," Jones said last May.

Like a lot of companies, Jones Soda subsequently cut jobs. It laid off 10 people last month, after cutting 40 positions last fall. It now has about 60 employees.

Ricci said the 18-month turnaround that he and Jones planned has been stalled by the economy in recent months.

Jones Soda is in cash-preservation mode, he said, and recently gave up an exclusive license that would have allowed it to be the only U.S. company making beverages with the ingredient GABA.

Even without that exclusivity, it is debuting a new drink called Jones GABA, which has gamma-aminobutyric acid, a popular ingredient in Japan that Jones says improves "mental focus, balance and clarity, while reducing stress."

The company did not want to commit to ordering enough GABA to keep its exclusive rights, Ricci said. "We're hunkering down in this economy and getting back on the plan we had from very beginning," he said.

Jones Soda's stock fell 7 cents, or 7.7 percent, to 84 cents a share Thursday before the fourth-quarter results were released. In after-hours trading, the shares climbed 4 cents to 88 cents. Jones Soda's stock has traded between 26 cents and $3.86 during the past year.

Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com