Beverage School
IMPORTANT NOTE: BevNET’s Beverage School seats are sold out. Click here to join the wait list.
Beverage School is BevNET Live’s half-day course (December 7, 2009) that provides the tools for beverage entrepreneurs to get off to a successful start in the business.
Who should attend? The program is designed for owner/operators of beverage companies, new hires to existing beverage companies, or people considering entering the beverage business.
Using real-life examples from working beverage companies, as well as discussions with suppliers, branding consultants, marketing and distribution experts, as well as BevNET’s own staff, Beverage School will arm its attendees with real-world beverage industry knowledge that can take years of trial-and-error to accumulate.
With a half-day curriculum that covers the week-to-week and month-to-month life of a beverage entrepreneur, attendees will learn the key steps to drink manufacturing and marketing, from hiring a flavor house to arriving at the distributor with an exciting product. Lessons for the day will cover the key points in brand development, packaging considerations, pricing, and marketing strategies including sampling, “guerilla” tactics and sales support.
Instructors already on board for Beverage School include Cascadia Consulting founder Bill Sipper, Branding expert Ian McLean of McLean Design, and flavor and ingredient wizard Erik Donhowe of Wild Flavors, with more to come.
Beverage School – Schedule
Dec. 7, 2009 Agenda
Last Updated Nov. 6
Note – all sections of this curriculum will feature a presentation followed by a question-and-answer format. Presentations and a printed materials “packet” will be available to all attendees.
11:30 – Registration and Networking (includes box lunch)
12:00 – Introduction: Where Ideas Meet Implementation
Co-Instructors Jeffrey Klineman and Bill Sipper introduce the agenda and begin to focus the discussion along the idea that ideas for great beverages must be met with execution on all fronts.
Speakers: Jeffrey Klineman, Editor, Beverage Spectrum Magazine; Bill Sipper, CEO, Cascadia Consulting Group
12:30 – Dispatch from the Trenches
How the dreams of the beverage entrepreneur match the day-to-day challenges.
Speakers: Hoby Buppert, CEO, Hobarama LLC; Christina Staalstrom, President, Hobarama LLC
Part 1 – Building Your Product
1:00 – Distilling your Beverage Concept
How your flavor and ingredient house can take your idea for a beverage and make it into a commercial product. How to deal with flavor and ingredient profiles, refine the product, and prepare it for commercial distribution.
Speaker: Erik Donhowe, Sr. VP, WILD Flavors
1:30 – Visual Branding
How to build a visual meaning and attach a story to your liquid – in other words, the mechanics of turning your liquid into a product via branding.
Speakers: Ian McLean, CEO, McLean Design
2:00 – Co-Packing and Bottling Options
What to ask for, and what to expect, when finding a facility to make and bottle your product.
Speaker: Ravi Arunachalam, VP and General Manager, Golden Gate Beverage Co.
2:30 – Break
Part II – Marketing and Selling
2:45 – Introduction to Distribution and Merchandising
All the tools you need before you’re ready to take your product into the marketplace, and how to use them once you’re there.
Speakers: Greg Stroh and James Rouse, Co-Founders, mix1 Beverage Corp.
3:15 – Selling Retailers on a Brand New Brand
Understanding the value of various retail channels, and how to get into each of them.
Speaker: Debbie Wildrick, Sr. VP of Sales, Equa Water
3:45 – Building Your Organization
What departments do you need to build a sustainable beverage business enterprise?
Speaker: Danny Rubenstein, Partner, Dash Advisors
4:15 – Engaging Growth Specialists
Sooner or later, you realize you can’t do it all – but that’s when you meet the network of professionals who are out there to do it for you (for a price). Our panel of legal, accounting, fundraising and public relations specialists will identify the events that trigger their engagement, and answer your questions about which tasks fall under their skill sets.
5:15 – Closing
