What are the best practices for dealing with retailers? What distinctions are important to consider when moving between channels? How do I get into the next big chain?
These and other questions will be addressed by a special group of retail panelists who will offer guidance and information on the process of partnering with stores across a variety of channels.
The new, retail-focused portion of BevNET Live that will be accompanied by a presentation of shopper insight data by Jeff Nowicki, a longtime beer industry veteran and now the chief strategy officer of the Bump Williams Consulting Co. Following Nowicki’s presentation, a panel of current and former retailers, including Tom Leach, a longtime grocery buyer who is currently the head of alcoholic beverage acquisition for Supervalu, Inc.; Perry Abbenante, who was the Global Director of Grocery and Private Label for Whole Foods until last year, and Vicky Soulimiotis, the Director of Category Management for Racetrac through May of this year, will serve on a panel on current issues in beverage retailing.
The three panelists, Nowicki, and other representatives of the retail industry will also be available during later breakout sessions to further assist BevNET Live attendees with questions about the best ways to approach retailers with new products and extract maximum performance from those products in a specific channel. Their presence will help attendees learn even more about how to confront, consider, and overcome the challenges of growing and improving entrepreneurial beverage brands.
The panels and breakout sessions will take place as part of BevNET Live, which will take place at the Loew’s Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif. On Dec. 6 and 7.
For more information on the program, and to register for BevNET Live, please go to the following link: http://www.bevnet.com/live/winter10/