Contributor

Courtney Reum

Founder, VeeV

Courtney Reum is the founder of VeeV, the world’s first spirit infused with the Brazilian super-fruit, acai and the preeminent eco-friendly spirit brand. A former Investment Banker at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street, Reum has become one of the youngest eco-entrepreneurs in the spirits industry since founding VeeV at the age of 27.

The Chicago native has fused his personal philosophy on environmental responsibility and stewardship with his passion for the beverage sector, an industry that he found in need of ways to improve its environmental business practices. VeeV is the world’s first certified carbon neutral spirits company and donates $1 per bottle sold to Sambazon’s Sustainable Acai Project, ensuring the safe harvest of acai in the Brazilian Amazon whilst protecting the overall biodiversity. The company also employs fair trade business practices by paying a “living wage” to all Amazon basin workers.

Reum developed his consumer product and beverage expertise as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in New York City and Sydney, Australia, where he worked with clients such as Procter & Gamble, Under Armor, and Glaceau’s Vitamin Water. At Goldman Sachs, he was involved with the Pernod Ricard / Allied Domecq merger in the spring of 2005, which served as the catalyst for a simple question: in a consolidated and cluttered industry could he create a product that would offer consumers a better way to drink? Ingredients, taste and environmental responsibility became the heart of VeeV.

In creating a greener, tastier alternative pour to vodka, Reum has collaborated with the likes of Richard Branson’s Virgin America and Harvard on multiple green consumer and academic initiatives. Virgin America serves VeeV as part of their on-flight drinks menu and the Harvard Business School MBA program deploys VeeV as a case study on launching an eco-friendly product in the spirits marketplace.

Reum holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy from Columbia University, and resides in L.A.



To learn more about VeeV, please visit www.veevlife.com

VeeV on Facebook: VeeV Açaí Spirit

VeeV on Twitter: @VeeVacaispirit; http://twitter.com/VeeVacaispirit