Sentia announces appointment of Jerome Pellaud as Managing Director

The Social Drinks Company, owning Sentia, the science-led functional drink brand created to redefine the future of social drinking, today (June 11) announces the appointment of Jerome Pellaud as Managing Director, marking a significant step in the brand’s next phase of growth as it accelerates its mission to build the next generation of functional social drinks.

A chemist by education, Pellaud received a PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of Basel in Switzerland, before beginning his career in pharmaceuticals with a post-doctoral role at Novartis Pharma.

His career soon moved from pharma into flavour and fermentation, two areas that would define his professional life and give him a rare understanding of the intersection between science, sensory experience and consumer behaviour.

Pellaud joins Sentia after 26 years at AB InBev, where he held senior roles at the forefront of beer, flavour and beverage innovation. Most recently, he served as Global Head of Supply for Beyond Beer, overseeing emerging drinks categories including canned cocktails and next-generation beverage formats.

His appointment reflects a clear belief in where the drinks industry is heading next. Having spent more than two decades helping one of the world’s largest beverage businesses anticipate and shape shifting consumer behaviours, from craft beer to canned cocktails, Pellaud believes the next major transformation will be led by functional drinks: products designed not only around taste and occasion, but around how people want to feel.

Sentia sits at the centre of this shift. Built on research from GABA Labs, the scientific foundation behind the brand, co-founded by Professor David Nutt and David Orren. Sentia uses a unique blend of botanical extracts designed to support the brain’s GABA system, associated with relaxation and sociability. Rather than simply offering an alternative to alcohol, Sentia is creating a new kind of social drink, one rooted in neuroscience, ritual and flavour. Redefining social chemistry.

As Managing Director, Pellaud will lead Sentia into its next stage of growth, bringing together deep drinks expertise, scientific understanding and a long-standing passion for innovation. His background in biophysical chemistry, pharmaceuticals, flavour and fermentation makes him especially well placed to lead a brand built at the meeting point of science, sensation and social ritual.

His focus will be on strengthening Sentia’s position as a category leader, scaling its presence in the UK and beyond, and helping to establish functional social drinking as a mainstream consumer behaviour.

Jerome Pellaud commented, “Throughout my career, innovation has always been my passion. I have spent the past 26 years working at the forefront of how drinks are created, experienced and enjoyed, from beer and craft innovation to beyond beer and emerging beverage formats.

What excites me about Sentia is that it is doing something truly new. Consumers are not simply looking for drinks with less alcohol; they are looking for drinks that help them feel a certain way.

Sentia brings together proprietary credible science, sophisticated flavour and the ritual of social drinking in a way that feels genuinely different.

After more than two decades in global beer and beverage innovation, I believe this is the next big thing. The functional drinks revolution is here, and I wanted to be part of the team helping to shape it.”

Professor David Nutt, GABA Labs Chief Scientific Officer, commented, “Jerome brings an exceptional combination of technical depth, drinks expertise and instinct for innovation. He has spent his career at the forefront of where the beverage industry is moving, and his decision to join Sentia after 26 years at AB InBev is a huge endorsement of what we are building.”

David Orren, GABA Labs CEO, added, “Sentia is not about taking something away from social occasions; it is about creating a new way to feel relaxed, present and connected. With Jerome as Managing Director, we are entering an incredibly exciting new phase for the brand.”

The appointment signals Sentia’s ambition to lead the next stage of the no- and low-alcohol category by drawing on the science of sociability developed by GABA labs: a future for social drinking defined not only by what drinks do not contain, but by what the new generation of functional drinks can actively offer to adult consumers.

By combining neuroscience, flavour and social ritual, Sentia is positioning itself at the forefront of a new era of functional drinks, where consumers can enjoy the pleasure and connection of a social drink, without relying on alcohol.