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.

Charlie graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a film degree. After a stint in Los Angeles he decided that food was his ultimate passion. He has been with Whole Foods for twelve years. He started in the stores working his way up from the very most entry level position. He was on the Exclusive Brands Team for over 5 years developing private label products and managing the P&L for many different categories. He became the Senior Category Manager for Refrigerated Beverages in 2021, which includes Juice, Refrigerated Coffee, and Functional Beverage. Charlie is also a trained Certified Cheese Professional. For anyone who needs cheese board advice, he is your guy. Charlie is routinely plotting his next travel destination with his Fiancée and is an avid movie goer.

Fred Hart is a brand consultant, creative director, and design strategist obsessed with building and studying CPG brands. Over the last decade, Fred has built a 30-person branding agency, transformed over 137 CPG brands, won 5 Design Effectiveness Awards, and has quenched the design thirst of beverage brands ranging from KOIA, Vive Organic, Suja, Lemon Perfect, Califia, Monster, Mike's Hard and more.

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.

As the Senior Director of Strategic Planning & PMO for New Revenue Streams, David spearheads strategic decision-making, project management, and cross-functional collaboration to drive growth in new businesses, including the Alcohol subsidiary and Coffee category at Coca-Cola. 

As the leader of New Revenue Streams, Dan drives new business models and opportunities beginning with category expansion and the evolving access to beverages across the consumer journey.  This includes the leadership of the Company’s efforts with brands in beverage alcohol, enhanced hydration, premium sparkling waters, and home dispensing systems. 

Mike Schneider is BevNET’s CRMO 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.

Paula Grant is a beverage designer and entrepreneur that has created multiple (multiple) billion-dollar beverage brands like, Fuze, NOS, Core Water and BodyArmor, accounting for over $6.3 billion in strategic acquisitions and countless multiples in revenue over the past 20+ years. She owns a full service design studio in Soho NY that partners with a select group of emerging and established brands, using great design thinking and creative talent to create success stories. Paula and her team have a deep passion for working with startups and understand their unique challenges and ecosystems.