Charlie is currently the Principal Category merchant for Refrigerated Beverages. He has been at Whole Foods Market for 13 years and has worked in several divisions and categories including the private label team, having worked his way up from the store level. Charlie lives in Denver with his fiancé and is an avid traveler and foodie.

With her finger on the pulse of better-for-you brands, Rachel Krupa is the Founder of The Goods Mart, a better-for-you, socially conscious convenience store which opened its doors in 2018 and now has three locations in New York City. As a professional “Snack Curator,” Rachel has deep insights into what makes a small brand stand out on the shelves with a goal of elevating emerging food brands to be household names, with a focus on female and diverse founders. She also offers personalized and customized snack curation for corporations, hotels, and beyond such as Standard Hotels in New York, Hotel Chelsea, The Smyth Tribeca, Jose Andres Catering, + more. Rachel is also the founder of Krupa Consulting, a boutique PR agency focused on food and wellness brands. She launched Thrive Market, Tastemade, Goop’s wellness vertical, Brownie Brittle, Barnana, Mercado Famous, Our Place, WTHN, Clean Market and played an integral part in the growth of MatchaBar, Milk Bar, LaColombe, The Class by Taryn Toomey, and many more. Rachel’s work as a leader in better-for-you food and wellness iterations has garnered her features in Fast Company, Marie Claire, New York Times, Today Show, and Vogue, among others. Rachel has graced Create & Cultivate’s annual list of forward-thinking women, and she is an advisor for Food Tank, Naturally New York, and New American Kitchen.

After graduating from the London School of Economics, Lexy started her career as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank, focusing on the consumer and retail industry. She was later recruited into BAT’s M&A team, where she was an integral part of the founding of Btomorrow Ventures. Lexy speaks six languages, has started the Binspired series and has been nominated to represent BAT as a Future Young Leader at the Confederation of British Industry Next Gen Conference.

Max Baumann is an established entrepreneur and business leader in the food and beverage industry. He is currently the founder & CEO of Basemakers, an industry-leading retail sales agency, performing sales & merchandising services for some of the fastest-growing CPG brands in the world: Oli Pop, Guayaki, Siete, Chomps, Harmless Harvest and more. Basemakers has made the INC 500 list for the fastest-growing privately-held companies in America three consecutive years. He has been featured on the TODAY show, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, CNN, BevNet, among others. He resides in Los Angeles, CA and in his spare time, you can find him seeking waves for surfing across the world. Max received his CPD in General Management from Wharton’s Executive Education program in April 2014 and is a recognized Wharton Fellow.

As founder and CEO of BevNET, John Craven is a widely-recognized authority on the beverage industry and he is frequently cited in mainstream media. His vision shapes the editorial, publishing, and positioning of all of BevNET's properties, including BevNET.com, NOSH.com, BevNET Magazine, Brewbound.com and their associated conferences. John is a graduate of Boston College with a BS in Marketing and Computer Science.

Mike Schneider is BevNET’s CMO and the co-host of Taste Radio podcast. Mike has over 20 years of experience building products and brands. Mike loves soccer and will talk your ear off about the Arsenal. His favorite holidays are St. Totteringham’s Day and Michael Thomas Day.