BevNET Live Winter 2015
Speakers
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Dave Asprey
Founder, Bulletproof
Dave Asprey
Founder, Bulletproof
Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof and author of New York Times bestseller The Bulletproof Diet, is a Silicon Valley investor and technology entrepreneur who spent two decades and over $300,000 to hack his own biology. Dave lost 100 pounds without counting calories or excessive exercise, used techniques to upgrade his brain by more than 20 IQ points, and lowered his biological age while learning to sleep more efficiently in less time. Learning to do these seemingly impossible things transformed him into a better entrepreneur, a better husband, and a better father. Dave is the creator of the widely popular Bulletproof Coffee, host of the #1 health podcast, Bulletproof Radio, and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Bulletproof Diet. Through his work Dave provides information, techniques and keys to taking control of and improving your biochemistry, your body and your mind so they work in unison, helping you execute at levels far beyond what you'd expect, without burning out, getting sick, or allowing stress to control your decisions. Dave's newest venture, the first Bulletproof Coffee shop and cafe, is scheduled to open in Santa Monica, California in mid 2015.
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Kevin Klock
CEO, Talking Rain
Kevin Klock
CEO, Talking Rain
Kevin Klock has more than 23 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. An engineer by training, Klock helped Talking Rain grow more than 300 percent in sales less than two years since taking over as president. He is now CEO as the company and brand continue to thrive and grow. A graduate of Oregon State University with a BS in chemical engineering, Klock has a unique approach to business management that marries his operational and scientific background with a passion for building strong teams that collaborate to achieve success. He has a keen understanding of the food and beverage industry from many perspectives and a unique expertise in turning around businesses. His first opportunity to lead a business to success was at Ralston Purina, soon after graduating from college. As the production supervisor overseeing international operations, Klock turned a money-losing venture into a profitable operation. He further developed those same business and operational skills at Nestlé where he spent seven years in a variety of operations and leadership positions. Again, he successfully turned around an unprofitable manufacturing facility as the production manager for the FoodServices Division. From Nestlé Kevin moved on as a plant manager for Dairy Farmers of America in a facility producing Frappucino for the Pepsi/Starbuck’s joint venture. Once more, he proved his ability to achieve profitability by balancing business acumen with operational efficiency. Klock began at Talking Rain in 2006 as vice president of operations. In May 2010 he took the helm as senior vice president and general manager and then president in 2011. Since taking the leadership role at the company, he has guided Talking Rain with a strategic focus on Sparkling ICE – a 20-year old brand that Klock helped grow from $10 million to more than $400 million in sales.
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Joth Ricci
President, Stumptown Coffee
Joth Ricci
President, Stumptown Coffee
Joth Ricci is currently the President of Stumptown Coffee in Portland, OR. Previous to Stumptown, Joth led a team on strategic advisory to beverage industry, evaluation of investment opportunities and overall business development, as a Managing Partner at First Beverage Group. He was also the President & CEO of Jones Soda Company (JSDA) in Seattle, WA, and the General Manager of Columbia Distributing Company, a multi-category beverage distributor in the Pacific Northwest, after holding positions of VP of Human Resources and Process Improvement; and VP of Sales and Marketing. Joth also spent nearly a decade in various sales and marketing management positions with McNeil Consumer Healthcare/Johnson & Johnson - WA, OR, CA, PA. He is a current advisory board member for Ninkasi Brewing Company and DRY Soda Former Board Member of the Jones Soda Company, Rising Beverage Company (Activate Drinks), and the Thomas Kemper Soda Company BS Business Education from Oregon State University; Past President of the Oregon State Alumni Association; Board of Trustees at Oregon State University
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Jeff Church
Co-Founder & CEO, Suja
Jeff Church
Co-Founder & CEO, Suja
Jeff Church is co-founder and CEO of Suja Juice and has enjoyed a career of numerous successful entrepreneurial ventures, including a multi-million dollar private equity firm that focused on acquisitions of middle market manufacturing and distribution companies. Before that, Church, who holds an MBA from Harvard, served as president and general manager of various divisions within ERICO International Corporation, as well as held associate and senior positions at Morgan Stanley and Ernst & Young, respectively.
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Rebecca Messina
Senior VP, Marketing & Innovation, VEB, The Coca-Cola Company
Rebecca Messina
Senior VP, Marketing & Innovation, VEB, The Coca-Cola Company
Ms. Messina started in her role as EVP of Marketing and Innovation for Venturing & Emerging Brands in July, 2014. She started her career at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1994 with the Worldwide Media Department. She worked in Atlanta for five years in numerous global media roles, including Worldwide Media Director. In November 1999, Rebecca moved to Santiago, Chile and assumed the role of Marketing Services Director for the Andean Division. There she remained until 2001, managing media, promotions and marketing assets for Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. In 2001, Rebecca moved to Sydney, Australia on a one-year assignment where she worked as the Marketing Services Director for CC South Pacific Division. Following this assignment Rebecca moved to Paris, France where she first served as the Executive Assistant to the Division President and then moved into a marketing role for the European Group in November 2003. In February 2006, Ms. Messina was transferred to Atlanta from Paris to lead The Company’s effort to develop the vision and strategy behind its approach to marketing. As the Vice President, Global Marketing Capability & Integration, this included the creation of The Coca-Cola Way of Marketing, global agency management operations, the development and delivery of integrated marketing communication programs, and numerous cross functional, global strategies.
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Jesus Delgado-Jenkins
EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer, 7-Eleven, Inc.
Jesus Delgado-Jenkins
EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer, 7-Eleven, Inc.
Jesus H. Delgado-Jenkins is the executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for 7-Eleven, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for the company’s merchandising operations, category management, new product introduction, new category and profit center development, store sets, marketing and merchandise communications, and fresh foods. He also is a member of 7-Eleven’s executive committee. He brings a wealth of leadership and convenience store expertise to 7-Eleven® stores from a variety of senior management positions. Most recently, Delgado-Jenkins was the president and CEO of JNI, LLC, a convenience store-acquisition company. Prior to JNI, he served as the chief financial officer and deputy chief operating officer for the U.S. Treasury Department.
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Kelli McCusker
VP of Beverages, Campbell Soup Co.
Kelli McCusker
VP of Beverages, Campbell Soup Co.
Kelli began her career in the early 90’s at Pepsi-Cola Company where she spent 16 years in marketing roles across the US and Europe, managing brands including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Starbucks Frappuccino and IZZE Sparkling Juice. She worked on some of Pepsi’s largest promotional initiatives including ‘Pepsi Stuff’ and managed the Mountain Dew brand when its highly engaging positioning was breakthrough in the market. She left Pepsi to diversify her business experience, spending three years in beauty service and retail before becoming global marketing lead for Cannondale Sports Unlimited. She joined Campbell’ in April, 2014 as Vice-President in charge of the US Retail Beverages business . Kelli has been the driving force behind efforts to reframe the V8 brand, broaden its appeal and consumer base. During the past 18 months, Kelli and her team have set V8 on new mission, to deliver Veggies for All. She has begun modernizing the brand and launched three new product platforms including Veggie Blends, V8+Energy carbonated drinks and V8 Infused Waters.
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Scott LaPorta
President, Bolthouse Farms
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Jeff Hansberry
President, Evolution Fresh
Jeff Hansberry
President, Evolution Fresh
Jeff has enterprise-wide responsibility for the business unit within Starbucks. Jeff oversees sales, brand management, product development, finance, partner resources, and our state of the art Juicery in Rancho Cucamonga, California. He is committed to driving revenue, profit and brand growth across all Evolution Fresh channels. This includes the cold-pressed juice and handcrafted smoothies sold at Starbucks stores, at Whole Foods and other natural food retailers, as well as the growing amount of natural and premium grocery retailers across the U.S. and Canada. Since Starbucks acquisition of Evolution Fresh in December 2011, Evolution Fresh has re- launched the brand, opened retail stores and expanded its availability to more than 15,000 locations nationwide. This expansion furthers growth plans to lead the development of the $1.6 billion super-premium juice category. Leading up to this role Jeff was responsible for integrating company’s retail and channel development business in the China Asia Pacific region. He also has deep knowledge and experience with Starbucks Channel Development and Emerging Brands from his time leading the business unit, increasing distribution through Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), and growing the company’s retail presence through foodservice, licensing and franchising. Jeff joined Starbucks in June 2010 as president, Global Consumer Products and Foodservice, launching Starbucks direct consumer products business and introducing new brands and products to more markets around the world. This included packaged coffee, K-Cups, ready-to- drink coffee, ice cream, chocolate and Tazo teas and drinks. Jeff is an experienced leader with deep understanding of sales and takes pride in developing high-performing organizations. Prior to joining Starbucks, Jeff served as vice president and general manager for E&J Gallo Winery where he was responsible for leading the company’s flagship popular priced brand portfolio. His background also includes 17 years at Procter & Gamble where he held leadership positions in sales, marketing and general management, both in the U.S. and abroad.
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Matthew Mitchell
Director, Strategic Initiatives, The Coca-Cola Co.
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Kent Pilakowski
President & Founder, IGNITE Sales Management and Consulting
Kent Pilakowski
President & Founder, IGNITE Sales Management and Consulting
After 13 years with General Mills, Kent has covered all aspects of the CPG industry. Winning awards throughout his career, his experience spans from category management to channels strategy to trade optimization to customer management to retail execution and more. A "category captain" in the natural/organic space, his final role at General Mills was directing the sales operations, trade marketing, and category management for the Small Planet Foods organic division. In 2007, he created IGNITE to take advantage of what he saw as the most significant white space in the industry: strategic sales management. During his tenure with Small Plant Foods, he witnessed many brands who needed more than what was at that time offered in the food space for emerging brands. What was missing was a more holistic view of growth and the strategy that drives it - focused on sales, but including all aspects of brand and product development. IGNITE's partnership model of shared goals amplifies the power of this broad strategic vision. Through IGNITE, Kent has developed a team and a structure that right sizes corporate process to small business. That same team also provides strategic leadership and management on the manufacturer side, in order to take full advantage of the ever-important broker, retailer, and distributor relationships.
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Duane Primozich
Former Managing Director, BIG
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David Smith
Founder & CEO, High Brew Coffee
David Smith
Founder & CEO, High Brew Coffee
David Smith is the Founder/CEO of High Brew Coffee, the country's first RTD Cold-Brewed coffee available nationally. He and his wife discovered the benefits of cold-brew coffee while sailing their catamaran throughout the Eastern Caribbean. Nothing else delivered the natural energy and refreshing taste than cold-brewed iced coffee. They home-schooled their children while navigating the tropical islands for six months before returning to Austin to start High Brew. Previously, David co-founded Sweet Leaf Tea in 1998 where he was the VP of Sales and Marketing until Nestle acquired the company in 2011. David is co-founder of Rhythm Superfoods and Live Soda and sits on the boards Primizie Snacks and Austin EastCiders. David graduated with a BS in Economics and a minor in Business from the University of Texas in Austin in 1997. He remains in Austin with his wife, daughter and son.
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Alan Murray
CEO, Goodbelly
Alan Murray
CEO, Goodbelly
NextFoods CEO Alan Murray has worked with the beverage industry for more than 20 years, having held various international marketing and general management roles within packaging giant Tetra Pak. As CEO in North America, he worked closely with many leading beverage brands and played a key role in bringing new packaging formats to the U.S. In 2010 he decided to step into the startup world by taking on the CEO role at NextFoods, makers of probiotic juice, GoodBelly. Murray was instrumental in licensing the brand’s patented probiotic technology from Sweden and participated in early activities such as brand creation and pitching to investors. Murray is also Vice Chairman of the publicly listed company SunOpta, a $1 billion global provider of natural and organic foods ingredients. His experience includes board work for private equity and venture backed companies in the packaging and food industries. He has worked closely with CEO’s as coach and sounding board in companies ranging in size from pre-revenue all the way to $1billion. He was the founder of the North American Carton Council, an industry body that serves to promote the recycling of cartons in the US. A graduate of the University of Cape Town, South Africa with a degree in Biochemistry and Applied Statistics, Murray participated in the Unilever Management Development Program and has attended various courses at the Business School IMD in Lausanne Switzerland. He is a Guest Speaker at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and has taught case studies of his work at London’s Ashridge Business School.
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Alex Matthews
CEO, Juice Served Here
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Kathryn Peters
EVP, SPINS
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Jeffrey Andrews
Senior Director Contract Manufacturing, HP Hood
Jeffrey Andrews
Senior Director Contract Manufacturing, HP Hood
Mr. Andrews has 24 years of experience in senior operational and strategic roles. Mr. Andrews has P&L responsibility for HP Hood’s multi-hundred million dollar contract manufacturing business. He has previously held SVP, VP and partner level roles in business development, operations, engineering and marketing. Mr. Andrews started his career as an engineer in the technology industry. He has since held senior level operational and strategic roles in several technology oriented businesses. He has experience in strategic transactions and has served on more than 10 boards of directors. He currently serves on the board of directors of one private and one publicly traded company and on the board of one non-profit organization.
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Blake Mitchell
Partner, Interact Boulder
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Brian Reed
Principal, Market Structure, IRI
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Greg Fleishman
President, Purely Righteous Brands
Greg Fleishman
President, Purely Righteous Brands
Greg has created and grown some of the world's largest and most successful brands during his 20-year career - launching 500+ items across 17 food and beverage categories into 12 countries - focusing primarily on the "natural green Space". Greg is currently president & co-founder of Purely Righteous Brands LLC (PRB), a boutique consultancy dedicated to fostering the growth of "green space" health food & beverage companies. Clients include Tasty Brand, Revolution Foods, Arctic Zero & SUJA Juice - all committed to revolutionizing the spaces they are in. Under PRB, Greg served as Chief Marketing & Strategy for Suja, the #1 cold-pressured fresh juice brand in the US where he led business strategy, marketing, innovation, and retail customer development. There he positioned the portfolio, created & launched 35 new items (including two sub-brands) and built 3 sales channels. Prior to that, he served as CMO of Sambazon, the maker of fresh amazon superfood-based beverages. As CMO, Greg led marketing, strategy, innovation and business development for Coca-Cola's FUZE & Energy portfolio. He also worked for over 14 years as an executive marketer at Kashi/Bear Naked and Kelloggs.
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Daina Trout
Co-Founder and CEO, Health-Ade
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Daren Myers
Co-Founder, Rau Chocolate
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Austin Allan
Founder and CEO, Tio Gazpacho
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Jeremy Halpern
Partner, Nutter, McLennen & Fish
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Fred Hart
Creative Director, Interact Boulder
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Bill Sipper
Managing Partner, Cascadia Managing Brands
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Becky Nelson
Partner, Bex Brands
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Jeffrey Klineman
Editor-in-Chief, BevNET
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John Craven
CEO & Founder, BevNET
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Nikki R. McCord
Founder, McCord Consulting Group
Nikki R. McCord
Founder, McCord Consulting Group
Nikki R. McCord is the founder of McCord Consulting Group. Ms. McCord has been in the governmental affairs, business consulting, and board development fields since 2004. Ms. McCord has had a notable career in the legislative field. She began her career as the Senior Director of Communications & Legislative Affairs at Scofes & Associates Consulting, Inc. This powerful governmental affairs firm specialized in representing Fortune 500 companies in Michigan and Illinois. She was then asked by former Michigan Governor, Jennifer Granholm, to join her legislative team as the Legislative Advisor for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Most recently, Ms. McCord has worked on educational and labor policy at the Colorado General Assembly, bringing her expertise and proven lobbying style to the West. Ms. McCord earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The University of Notre Dame where she also obtained a minor in Latin. She received her Masters of Public Policy at Michigan State University. Ms. McCord’s civic and professional boards include the Community Action Programs Board of Boulder County. Ms. McCord is the past President of the Notre Dame Club of Denver, serving more than 2000 Denver area members. She was appointed a commissioner of the Boulder Housing Partners in 2014. She was named the November 2015 Boulder Young Pro to Know by the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. Ms. McCord resides in Boulder.