Tune in to our livestream at 10 a.m. PST on Tuesday, Dec. 6 to watch the live discussion.

As the visionary behind DRY, Sharelle Klaus has always had a passion for the culinary world and celebrating each part of a meal – including the beverages. After having four children and not being able to enjoy wine or cocktails with her meals, Klaus recognized the need for a refreshing, elevated, non-alcoholic option in the market that was worthy of pairing with a great meal. In 2005, Klaus crafted the first batches of DRY Soda in her home kitchen and officially launched DRY. For the last 17 years, Klaus has made it her mission to establish a culture of social drinking for everyone. Klaus brings nearly three decades of entrepreneurial, financial, and technology industry experience to her role as CEO at DRY. As an advocate for advancing the sober curious movement, she also spearheaded DRY’s investment stake in Austin-based sober bar, Sans Bar, and co-authored a, “The Guide to Zero-Proof Cocktails,” in November 2020. Prior to founding DRY, Klaus worked as a consultant for Infrastructure Management Group and Price Waterhouse. She also served as president of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, where she drove strategic development of programs, events and fundraising for the organization’s 250+ Seattle-area members. Klaus has been featured in numerous publications including Huffpost, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Bon Appetit, and Imbibe, as well as has spoken at various beverage industry events, including BevNET Live and Lo and No Beverage Summit. She was also honored by Seattle Business Magazine as one of its 2018 CEOs of the year. Sharelle is a mother of four and currently lives and works from the road in a converted SUV camper.

Sandro Roco is a Queens-born, Filipino-American and the founder of Sanzo – the first Asian-inspired sparkling water born to deliver beverages that bridge the gap between beloved Asian flavors (that represent over 60% of the world’s population) and clean, modern labels. After graduating from Villanova University and working at a nuclear power plant engineer for three years, Sandro moved to New York City to work on the trading floor of J.P. Morgan. The seeds of Sanzo were planted a few years later when Sandro was twenty-nine and as head of growth for a men’s styling tech startup, was looking for a new challenge with a bigger mission behind it. In 2019, the first Sanzo lychee cans rolled off the production line in Brooklyn and Sandro hand-delivered every single one of the initial three-thousand cans  himself. Since launch, the company has boasted 5x YoY growth, a >30% RPR, and has gained distribution in 3,500+ strategic retailers including from Whole Foods Market  to Safeway to Panda Express.

Fawn Weaver has been a serial entrepreneur for more than 25 years. As the CEO and founder of Grant Sidney, Inc., a privately held investment company, Weaver is often active in her investments, overseeing strategy from behind the scenes. She is also the CEO of Uncle Nearest, Inc. which she founded in 2016 and has become the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in U.S. history and the most awarded Bourbon of 2019, 2020 and 2021. Weaver is the founder of the Nearest Green Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering full scholarships to every descendant of Nearest Green, the world’s first known African-American master distiller. In 2021, Weaver created the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund, to invest in minority founded, owned and led brands with the greatest potential to grow into legacy brands. Weaver is a popular TED speaker, as well as a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author who has appeared on 100s of popular radio, morning and television talk shows, including NPR, FOX Business, the TODAY Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Washington Post and The New York Times. She is a regular contributor to Inc. Magazine and her revealing How I Built This segment with Guy Raz on NPR had the internet abuzz for weeks. She is certified as a Corporate Director by Harvard Business School and in March 2021, was named to the Endeavor Group Holdings (NYSE: EDR) board of directors, alongside Elon Musk, where she also serves on its audit committee.

Co-Founder & CEO of The Equitea Co., Quentin Vennie is a celebrated wellness expert, international keynote speaker, advocate for mental health and author of the bestselling memoir, Strong In The Broken Places. Quentin has been recognized as one of Black Enterprise magazine’s 100 Modern Men of Distinction and by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, for his work in mental health and addiction recovery. He also appeared as the wellness keynote speaker for Colin Kaepernick’s “Know My Rights” Camp in Quentin’s hometown of Baltimore, MD. Quentin serves on the advisory board for the Partnering for Student Wellness program, a mental health research study conducted by The University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina and has also served on the advisory council for Lineage Project, a non-profit that teaches trauma-informed mindfulness practices to youth in New York City. Through his work with Equitea, Quentin is bringing his years of experience in wellness and mental health to the beverage industry, intersecting his love and passion for tea with his desire to increase equity in wellness and destigmatize mental health, one sip at a time. 

Heather would go to any length for a great business idea, in some cases, even as far as the Himalayas. Heather discovered Chai while trekking in India and brewed the first batch of Oregon Chai in her kitchen in 1994. The company grew to 35 people and was distributed in all 50 states, Canada and Europe, growing to over $32 million in sales. Within 10 years, the company sold for $75 million. Heather has been featured in numerous national business publications, including Forbes and Inc. Oregon Chai was consistently featured as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States, capturing over 80 percent of the Chai category and topping the list as the fastest growing company in the tea category. For her next business idea, Heather’s travels took her to Thailand, where she found the most pristine tea farm where she learned the mysterious Thai art of tea brewing; decoding the secrets behind pandan leaf; tracking down impeccable sources for ingredients. Since introducing Thaiwala in 2019, Thaiwala is now a national brand in over 5000 retailers. As a serial entrepreneur, Heather is well-established in the tea concentrate category and has years of experience managing and growing teams into successful businesses. She has strong knowledge from research and development, brewing, and co packing to the supply chain, distributors and retailers. Awards 2003: Outstanding Women Entrepreneurial Award by U.S. Small Business Administration, the office of Entrepreneur Development.

Jason Shiver has served as CEO of Waterloo Sparkling Water since August 2017, leading the brand to exceptional year-over-year growth, national distribution with strong retailer relationships, and category leadership in flavor innovation. Prior to Waterloo, Jason was President of North America for Amplify Snack Brands, the better-for-you snacking company that includes SkinnyPop. As Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing there, he was instrumental in helping to take the company public in August 2015 and won awards from both Nielsen and IRI for SkinnyPop’s performance. From 2008 to 2013, Jason served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Glutino USA, a gluten free snack food company, which was acquired by Boulder Brands, Inc, a diversified food company. And, prior to Glutino, Jason held several roles at Atkins Nutritionals Inc, the leader in low carb food and beverages, including Vice President of Sales. From September 2001 to May 2003, Jason was a Southeast Regional Sales Manager at Acirca, Inc, an organic foods and beverages company. From August 2000 to September 2001, Jason was a National Account Manager at AriZona Beverages USA LLC. Jason holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from University of South Florida. He was also a proud recipient of the Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) “Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 Central Texas Award,” in Waterloo’s hometown. Nominees were evaluated based on six criteria, including overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management.

In 2016, Jesslyn Rollins was approached by her father, Atlanta-based anesthesiologist Dr. Trey Rollins about his new product BIOLYTE, that was supposed to simulate an IV but in drinkable form. It was created as a remedy for his wife and Jesslyn’s mom, Jeannine, who was battling breast cancer at the time and suffering from severe dehydration from the chemo treatments. Insistent on discovering for herself if this product really worked, Jesslyn immediately jumped into sales mode and – with a background in theatre and performing arts – started collecting data from her own experiences and moved onto high school athletic departments and college fraternities via a cooler of the liquid supplement from the back of her car! Throughout this time, she single-handedly sold, packaged, shipped and even delivered BIOLYTE personally to anyone who purchased, before landing her first big account: Kroger.   Since the brand’s inception, she has held every position in the company from director of sales, chief sales and marketing officer to now, CEO (at age 30), managing the sales, marketing, operations, finance and production teams. BIOLYTE is now a multi-million-dollar company, and was just named to the Inc. 5000: earning the 605th spot on the list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Each bottle mimics an IV bag – offering 6.5 times the electrolytes as leading sports drinks, and 1/3 of the sugar: an efficient, effective remedy to dehydration and associated symptoms, like nausea, headaches, body aches and the overall feeling of being rundown.

Janica Lane is co-head of the consumer group at Piper Sandler and leads food, beverage, and nutritional supplement investment banking.   Prior to joining Piper Sandler, Lane was a partner at Partnership Capital Growth, a boutique investment bank providing M&A and private placement services to health and wellness-oriented businesses. Prior to investment banking, Lane was a researcher at Stanford University’s Center for Environmental Science and Policy (CESP) and an equity research associate on Prudential Securities’ energy team.   Lane has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She received dual bachelor's degrees (international relations and Spanish) with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Stanford University. She spent six months living in Santiago, Chile, as part of her undergraduate education and is fluent in Spanish.

In a terrific twist of fate, 1st generation Cuban American Carin Luna-Ostaseski set out to create a Scotch Whisky brand that would change the way people think about the category. She decided to seek these new horizons in the form of a grand tour of her local whisky purveyor – 300 bottles of whiskies and countless tasting events later, she became a dedicated student of this sublime spirit. Carin eventually left her 17-year career as a Creative Director and successfully funded SIA Scotch Whisky on kickstarter.com, pursuing her dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur and one of the first Hispanic people in history to create a Scotch Whisky company.

Kyle Cooke is the Founder of Loverboy, the premium beverage brand reinventing the traditional ready-to-drink category with high-quality, low calorie sparkling hard teas and premium canned cocktails. A serial entrepreneur and cast member of Bravo’s hit reality series “Summer House,” Cooke founded Loverboy in 2018, a now-multi-million dollar business conceptualized from an idea on TV.  Kyle’s tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit has laid the groundwork for all of his ventures to date, across multiple industry sectors. Prior to Loverboy, Cooke founded FENIX, an invite-only app and private wellness community providing members with a nutrition coach for personalized tips, motivation and accountability on a daily basis. Prior to that, he served as a founding partner and advisor for apparel brand Birddogs, focusing on merging content and commerce by selling high-end activewear coupled with humorous content. He also founded Blownaway, a beauty delivery service, in 2014. Cooke is a graduate of Trinity College and received his MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College in 2011. He resides in New York City with his wife and business partner, Amanda Batula.

Brian Treacy is the Co-Founder and President of Distillery Operations at Sagamore Spirit. He overseesbrand and business development, product line innovation, and international sales. As a founding member of the brand, Brian was responsible for leading the buildout and design of Sagamore Spirit’s world-class waterfront distillery, which is consistently ranked as one of the top distilleries in the nation.Brian’s leadership also resulted in 430% increase in sales over a six year-period in the United States. Sagamore Spirit has won over 100 awards with numerous gold and double gold medals in spirit competitions, including winning World’s Best Rye Whiskey 2019, San Francisco International Spirits Competition.

Nick Papanicolaou is a seasoned finance, operations & startup professional with 20+ years of experience in managing deals, valuing companies, forecasting trends, launching ventures (3 so far), improving efficiencies and scaling businesses. He currently sits on several startup Boards as well as the Investment Committee and LP Advisory Committee for an undisclosed venture capital fund. He also sat on Pernod Ricard’s Audit Committee and reporting into the CFO of Pernod Ricard North America. At Pernod Ricard, Nick oversaw Castle Brands, a $40M+ sales business. Prior to that, he ran the Incubate Brands, a $20M business within Pernod Ricard’s New Brand Ventures division. Nick has helped to deploy over $700M in capital into small and emerging brands. These investments now account for over 20% of Pernod Ricard USA’s top line growth in less than 5 years. Additionally, he launched New Brand Ventures in 2016, a hybrid internal incubator and corporate venture capital group responsible for most of the emerging brands at Pernod Ricard. Prior to Pernod Ricard, he launched two companies (one in the alcohol beverage space) and spent 6 years in investment banking mostly raising capital in the equity markets. Nick is a graduate of Columbia Business School where he received his MBA in Value Investing and Entrepreneurship. He is also a graduate of Harvard College.

As a Director of Insights, Alex Trott, is responsible for ensuring 84.51°’s CPG clients are getting value and insights out of Kroger data by enabling 84.51° Stratum, 84.51° Collaborative Cloud, 84.51° In-Queries and other data capabilities. Alex was promoted to her current role after serving 10 years with the company in a variety of roles. In her longest tenured role as Senior Client Lead, Kroger Merchandising, she created and led the multi-disciplinary, customer-focused strategy for the Natural Foods Department at Kroger. Under her guidance, she helped Kroger become a leader in the natural and organic space and spoke on the retailer’s behalf at Expo West, The Wellness Your Way Festival, The Nexty Awards, BevNet and NoshLive. She also spearheaded the creation of the Natural Foods Summit, which was an innovation platform that promoted discussion about natural food trends and allowed emerging brands to showcase their products directly to Kroger. Alex began her career at 84.51°, previously dunnhumbyUSA, in the grad program as an associate client lead in Communications & Media. A native Cincinnatian, Alex graduated from Miami University with Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in entrepreneurship. She sits on the Network of Executive Women Cincinnati Regional leadership team and has tutored 3rd grade math and reading at the Oyler School for 9 consecutive school years.

As Director of DSD Beverage Merchandising, Cassie leads a team of 25+ associates for The Kroger Co. She is responsible for merchandising for all shelf stable non-alcoholic Beverage for DSD & CSD. Cassie began her Kroger career in 2019 as the Merchandising Coordinator in Adult Beverage supporting the Beer commodities. She was promoted to Director of DSD Beverage in June of 2020. Prior to joining Kroger, Cassie spent eighteen months as a Change Leader for Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market. Before this time, Cassie spent fifteen years at Walmart covering different roles from Store Manager, Buyer and Regional Merchandise Director. Cassie graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in Business Administion. Cassie currently lives in Kentucky with her partner, Henry, and their son and daughter.

Hope Ewing is the Head Bartender in Charge at Vervet California Sparkling Cocktails, which she co-founded in 2017 with two former bar regulars, to prove that canned cocktails could also be craft cocktails representing the many cultures of Los Angeles. She has contributed writing to Punch and SevenFifty Daily and is the author of Movers & Shakers: Women Making Waves in Spirits, Beer, and Wine (Unnamed Press, 2018). She is currently the bar director at the Obscure Distillery in Los Angeles, the first cocktail bar in California owned by a distillery. 

Carlton is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science and University of Michigan with an MBA in Strategy and Marketing. Hailing from the Sierra Nevadas, you can often find him enjoying the natural splendor of Northern California. Two things make him happiest: eating/drinking well with friends & family and tilting against the windmill that is the three tiered beverage alcohol system (we all concede he probably needs some healthier hobbies...).

Aimy Steadman is a Co-Founder and COO at Future/Proof, creators of BeatBox Beverages - the World's Tastiest Portable Party Punch™ one of the best-selling US RTD cocktails. Future/Proof, recently awarded one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 Fast-Growing Privately Owned Companies in America, is a disruptor in the beverage alcohol market that provides innovative solutions that drive incremental profit in high-growth categories. ??Aimy Steadman serves on the following nonprofit boards: Naturally Austin, Naturally Network, and Entrepreneurs Organization: Austin.  Steadman has also received a handful of notable national as well as global accolades, most recently Austin Chamber’s A-List 2020 in addition to being featured in a recent book entitled The Immigrant Hustle.

Brian Albert manages the merchandising and assortment for non-alcoholic beverages at Sprouts Farmers Market.  Over a 30-year career, Brian has had various positions in marketing, merchandising, and product development with stops at Campbell’s, Coors, Wild Oats, Giant Eagle, Sprouts, and iMC2, a pioneer in digital marketing. Those experiences coupled with his marketing and entrepreneurial management degrees from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the University of Colorado, Brian has a strong knowledge base on what it takes to create and maintain a successful beverage brand.”

Nick co-founded Amberstone in 2019.  Nick has extensive experience in both consumer finance where he has held roles in investment banking, credit financing, growth investing and venture investing, as well as consumer operations. Prior to co-founding Amberstone, Nick ran Trail Post Ventures (TPV), a consumer focused fundless sponsor based in San Francisco. At TPV, Nick participated in the Series A investment in nutpods, a clean ingredient, non-dairy coffee creamer; the Series A investment in Rumpl an outdoor, technical blanket company; the Series A investment in Naadam, a DTC cashmere company; and the Series Seed investment in JuneShine, an alcoholic kombucha company. Prior to TPV, Nick was an Associate in Piper Jaffray’s Investment Banking division where he covered the consumer vertical. Before joining Piper Jaffray, Nick was an investing partner and General Manager of a high-end, Mexican restaurant concept where he ran finance and operations, and helped determine expansion plans, while simultaneously operating the restaurant on a day to day basis. Nick also held an Associate role with THL Credit, focusing on management buyout and leveraged buyout transactions in the consumer space. Nick began his career in investment banking at North Point Advisors where he focused on the consumer vertical. Nick earned Bachelor of Arts in both Economics and Political Science from The University of Southern California.  Nick also earned a Master of Business Administration from The University of Southern California where he graduated Dean’s List and was chosen in his second year as the recipient of the Provident Investment Counsel Endowed Scholarship.

Claire is a Managing Director and Partner in L.E.K.’s Consumer Practice based out of Los Angeles. Focusing on Food and Beverage, she has over 14 years’ experience leading corporate and business unit growth strategy, value creation projects and has supported over 150 transactions with Commercial Due Diligence.  She has supported a broad range of private equity, portfolio companies and leading retailers / consumer brands across the US and Europe. Within Beverage specifically, she has advised with a range of businesses across alc and non-alc included branded players and contract manufacturers. Claire regularly publishes on trends in the food and beverage sector and the role of data analytics in improving business value.  Claire moved to the US in 2016 from the UK and has a Master of Engineering degree from University of Cambridge.

Alyssa Ferenz is CFO of Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG) and where she is responsible for firmwide financial management, operations, compliance, and investor relations.  In addition, she participates in the firm’s investment activities and is actively involved in portfolio company oversight.   Alyssa co-led ACG’s investment in Athletic Brewing Company, and is also involved in overseeing the firm’s investment in Betty Buzz.   She currently serves as a Board Member of Athletic Brewing, The Honest Kitchen and Clio Snacks.   Alyssa has over 20 years of experience with entrepreneurial consumer, food and beverage brands.  Prior to joining ACG, she served as Vice President of Finance at Boulder Brands, parent of the Udi’s, Glutino and EVOL brands. Previously she served as Chief Financial Officer of EVOL Foods and played an integral role in helping to grow EVOL and in consummating its successful sale to Boulder Brands.  Prior to EVOL, she was an early team member at Bear Naked granola, which grew significantly before being acquired by Kashi (Kellogg’s).   Alyssa holds an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business with a dual concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship, and a B.A. with honors in Mathematics and Art from Lafayette College.

Ara leads sourcing, diligence, and deal execution for ONCE Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Otsuka Holdings. Focused on finding innovation that has a positive impact on human health, Ara is always looking to meet with founders who have an eye on efficacy and the wellbeing of consumers. In addition to his responsibilities at ONCE Ventures, Ara is also a leader within Otsuka’s corporate development team where he leads acquisition efforts in North America for Otsuka’s Nutraceuticals segment. Prior to joining Otsuka, Ara was a member of the Strategy and Corporate Development team at Pharmavite, which is Otsuka’s supplements subsidiary and parent company of Nature Made and MegaFood. Before that, Ara was a member of the Distressed Opportunities fund at Oaktree Capital and, prior to that, worked across M&A and leveraged finance at UBS Investment Bank. Outside of the office, Ara loves to travel, camp, and spend time with his wife and two young boys.

Lauren Tamburro is Vice President of Research and Development at Vertosa. She is an expert in new product development, managing projects from concept to commercialization, plant scale-up and the product development process. As someone who has partnered cross functionally with procurement, operations, third party developers and external manufacturers, she’s well equipped to lend technical support to client products. Prior to joining Vertosa, Lauren worked for both a start-up and a multinational consumer product goods company. She performed analytical chemistry for six years, then as a Senior Scientist began launching new food products at Mondelez International primarily focused on chewing gum. As Senior Manager of Research and Development at ALOHA she launched plant-based protein bars, powders and aseptic ready to drink beverages.

Warren Bobrow has been a dishwasher, the owner of the first company to make fresh pasta in South Carolina, a television engineer and he even worked at Danceteria in NYC, then a trained chef which led to a twenty year career in private banking. A cannabis, wine and travel aficionado, Warren is a former rum judge and craft spirits national brand ambassador. He works full time in the cannabis business as an alchemist/journalist.

Darnell Smith is a CPG and alcohol industry veteran and cannabis entrepreneur, innovator and advocate. Smith is the founder and CEO of MXXN, a non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused spirits brand that is evolving today’s cocktail culture and disrupting the alcohol and cannabis industry. MXXN is the first product launch of MOJO Ventures, which is part of the digital + creative consultancy MOJO he founded that has done extensive work for Procter & Gamble Ventures, Barcardi’s Incubation group, Pepsico and more.  Prior to founding MXXN and MOJO, Smith was a senior digital transformation lead at Infosys Consulting working with the likes of Adidas, Ralph Lauren, AB InBev, Novartis, GSK, Pfizer, AMEX and more. Prior to that, Smith worked for over a decade in various agency and client side roles focused on innovation and commercialization for the likes of Diageo and Pernod Ricard.   As a Black entrepreneur working in the cannabis industry, Smith is extremely passionate about being on the frontlines of creating a more equitable space. He is committed to working with a diverse set of vendors and supply partners within his companies and always looks to partner with organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Smith earned his Marketing degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he played football as a defensive end under legendary coach Lou Holtz.

Although Buck is most often referred to as a speaker, author and trainer, he still thinks of himself as a retailer. He spent 24 years in the supermarket industry starting out as a part-timer and ending up as a corporate Vice President for the 6 th largest supermarket operator in the country. He left the corporate world and formed his own company in the late 1990’s and has since worked with over 100 retail and manufacturing companies in the U.S., Brazil and Europe. He wrote a column and the complete Foodservice section for Progressive Grocer Magazine for 6 years, … developed and administered a supermarket training program used by more than 16,000 supermarkets for over 12 years, … has been a featured speaker on almost every supermarket platform, … wrote and published two books, … filmed and distributed a 13-episode training concept entitled “Think Like A Retailer,”... and he currently delivers 30 or more high-energy virtual and live selling workshops a year.

As a founding member and Chief Strategy Officer, Steve is responsible for championing the Zooming®? technology portfolio as a key technical lead for our customers. During his time at ZoomEssence, Steve has held multiple roles including President and CFO as the business has grown from an idea to a company with a global customer base and extensive patent portfolio. Looking to the future, Steve is at the forefront of exploring how our innovative delivery system technology can improve beverage, food, and consumer products. Prior to ZoomEssence, Steve was in the private equity and investment banking business and has an MBA from Columbia Business School and undergrad from Rutgers University School of Business.

Emmet Malone is the Research, Development and Applications Director at Kerry, focusing on functional beverages and supplements for the North American market. He leads a team of development and application scientists, bringing customer innovations to life from ideation to a finished product on the shelf. He partners with startups and emerging brands, co-creating market-leading products and supporting brand growth to over $100M market share. Emmet has a passion for exploring functional ingredients, adaptogens and botanicals that provide positive health benefits in great-tasting beverages and supplements.

Brandy Rand leads global strategy across various areas of product, commercial and corporate development at IWSR. Brandy has over 20 years of management experience in the beverage alcohol industry, with previous positions at Allied Domecq Spirits & Wines, William Grant & Sons, and Bacardi Limited. In these roles, she worked across multiple markets covering brand commercial strategy, trade marketing, consumer engagement and product innovation.

Jim spent over 25 years in flavor and nutrition having patented new and novel delivery systems and commercialized several others. With a background in R&D, applied science, and commercial tech services he likes to use his diverse background to take a much larger view on innovation and technology. He and his family have lived in the Cincinnati area having opportunities to work for local large F&F companies and now the agile entrepreneurial ZoomEssence.

Shawn Gerstenkorn leads the strategic marketing team for Kerry’s North American beverage business unit. During his time at Kerry, he has focused on a broad range of beverage categories including functional beverages, refreshing beverages and alcohol as well as supporting innovation in packaging, flavors, functional ingredients and manufacturing. His experience with CPG beverage brands combined with his understanding of taste and functional ingredients helps him provide a unique perspective in the food and beverage industry. Shawn works closely with entrepreneurs and beverage start-ups providing strategic and market guidance, fostering innovation from concept to commercialization.

Janae Kuc, Senior Marketing Manager, Beverage Category for US/CAN Ingredion, has been in the food industry for the past 12 years. She works in the food industry because her hobbies include eating and drinking. During her tenure she has held roles within marketing, business development, R&D and technical services. Adaptation and change have been key drivers throughout her career. She has survived multiple acquisitions and lived to tell the tale (Penford acquired Gum Technology in 2014, Ingredion acquired Penford in 2015, Ingredion acquired TIC Gums in 2016, Ingredion fully integrated TIC Gums in 2019). Through these acquisitions she has had the opportunity to gain perspective and experience through lenses and scopes of each of these companies. These opportunities have also given her the chance to explore and indulge in new surroundings. Food and beverage have continued to play an intricate role in her career, adapting to new innovations and consumer needs within the beverage category has been a true inspiration.

Keith Kohler is the Founder of The K2 Group LLC, a finance consultancy.  Keith has worked with and impacted hundreds of companies with financing and financing education.  Over the past few years, he has originated and closed over $100 million in financing, with a particular focus on the natural products and food and beverage industries.  He supports founders via several other roles, including as a mentor of the Nutrition Capital Network, a Year 5 Mastermind Advisor for Babson College’s Women’s Innovating Now Growth Lab, a Wharton Venture Lab Expert in Residence and Mentor, and as the Finance instructor for The Idea Center at Miami-Dade College.  Keith has also led financing webinars for the Specialty Food Association, Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute, and has also been the featured expert on all aspects of debt financing for 15 years for the Natural Products Consulting’s “Financing Your Consumer Products Company” in-person seminars.    Under his newly created Financing Man brand, Keith recently launched a new retreat and mastermind-based business to help founders get comfortable with and master the finance function in their business called Making the Numbers Work for You (www.makingthenumbersworkforyou.com).  Keith also provides a complimentary review of a company's financials to give founders a 2-3 year financing strategy including debt, equity, and alternative financing options (yourfinancingreview.com).

Jeremy Halpern is a partner and co-chairs and serves as the Director of Business Development for Nutter’s Emerging Companies Group. Jeremy’s practice focuses on emerging companies, private equity, venture capital and angel financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, executive and team compensation matters, and general start-up support. Serving as the firm’s entrepreneur-in-residence, Jeremy often works on strategy and corporate development matters with companies, investors, and executives in technology, life sciences and the food and beverage industry. Jeremy is an active angel investor and is a member of the board of The Capital Network, a Boston based non-profit serving entrepreneurs seeking high growth capital. Jeremy serves on the Advisory Board and the Executive Education Committee of the MBI Health Program and on the Advisory Board of Pintley, a MassChallenge 2011 finalist company providing marketing solutions to the craft brewers and bars. He continues to serve as a mentor at MassChallenge and LearnLaunch, an expert advisor at the Innovation Hub at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and as a speaker, reviewer, judge or mentor for MIT HackingMedicine, HackingPediatrics, the Mass Tech Transfer Center, the Mass Life Science Center, M2D2, BranchFood and Startup Institute. Previously Jeremy served on the Board and Investment Committee of MassVentures, an early stage venture capital fund funding technology companies in Massachusetts. Jeremy taught entrepreneurial leadership at Tufts University for nine years and cofounded a company in the mobile technology synchronization space. Jeremy received his B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles.

BILL SIPPER is a food and beverage industry leader who has guided numerous brands from concept to commercialization to category leadership. He held senior and C Level positions at leading brands including Evian, Nantucket Nectars, Fresh Samantha/Odwalla, Naked Juice and Clearly Canadian. Bill’s strategic expertise and executional focus helped those brands succeed and can help your brand succeed, too.? Consulting closely with client leaders as they consider a sale or acquisition, Bill has supported several brands through the process. (Naked Juice was sold to Pepsico, Fresh Samantha/Odwalla was sold to Coca Cola, and Nantucket Nectars was sold to Ocean Spray). Bill has significant international experience, and works with clients in Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East. He draws on this expertise to help international brands establish presence in the US and to help US brands expand internationally.? Bill is active in philanthropic causes: He served as president of Robert Kennedy Jr.’s clean water charity, Tear of the Clouds; was an advisor to The Walden Woods Project; and served on the Board of Directors of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.? Bill has been featured on Food Network’s “Unwrapped” and in the PBS documentary “The Water Wars.” He has been a featured speaker at Columbia University School of Business, The Bottled Water Congress (Torino, Italy), the Pan Arab Congress on Osteoporosis (Tunisia), and at virtually every major US food and beverage show, including Natural Products Expo, BevNet, Nosh Live and more. His articles have appeared in leading trade publications, and he is frequently quoted in media including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and the New York Times.

Mitch Barnard is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Wildpack Beverage. He founded Wildpack in 2018 and has occupied various positions leading its operations, sales, mergers and acquisitions and growth departments. In addition to Wildpack, he has founded multiple other companies and joined an early-stage beverage brand. Earlier in his career, Mitch practiced international tax at several leading firms. Now, he is committed to expanding Wildpack Beverage and being an integral part of his customer’s growth stories. Mitch received his Juris Doctor from the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law, graduating with first class and Dean’s list honours.

Kate Wallman is a Managing Director at Encore Consumer Capital where she is responsible for deal origination and execution as well as portfolio company oversight. Encore Consumer Capital is a private equity firm focused on investing in food and consumer products manufacturing, marketing and distribution companies. Prior to joining Encore, she worked at Lineage Capital where she focused on investing in owner-managed businesses in the lower middle market. Kate received a BA in Economics from Boston College and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Kate lives in Marin with her husband and son. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, hiking, and exploring Northern California.

William Madden is one of Whole Brain Consulting's founders, an outsourced operations consulting firm with over 600 clients in 23 countries. Whole Brain Consulting's primary business is assisting brands with aligning their operations for explosive growth. Over the years, Madden has become a trusted partner of multiple investment funds in the industry who depend on Whole Brain Consulting to confirm they're "buying a boat, not an anchor." Before founding Whole brain Consulting, Madden held various senior leadership roles at Nestle, Hearthside Foods, and Little Lady Foods. While at Little Lady Foods, Madden developed and managed over $100 Million in revenue. In addition, Madden is a serial entrepreneur, having started Dulce Foods while in college, and Madson Foods, later in life. While at Dulce Foods, Madden oversaw the integration of four co-packers, one self-owned manufacturing site, and two acquisitions before exiting to a competitor. In Madden's free time, he enjoys collecting comics, scuba diving, white water rafting, and traveling to warm, sunny destinations.

Erin is the head of partnerships at Interact Brands, a branding agency changing how brands interact with culture. Erin is passionate about bringing brand stories & visions to life and spends her time immersing in all things CPG.

Jordan Bass co-founded HOP WTR after seven years at The Wonderful Company where he was Head of eCommerce and rapidly scaled the business to become leaders in CPG eCommerce. Jordan also held roles in corporate strategy and worked in venture capital.  After garnering more than a decade of strategic experience spanning technology, management consulting, finance and CPG, Bass, who comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and has this DNA in his blood, was eager to get back to it. Losing his drinking partner (when his wife got pregnant) and wanting to lose his beer gut, he saw a need for a functional healthy beer alternative and partnered with Nick Taranto to bring it to life.  Jordan lives in Los Angeles with his amazing wife, two daughters and dog, Hamilton, who has more Instagram followers than he does.

Kate Dwyer is a Comercial Go-To-Market Strategist focused on the Beverage Industry. Her experience includes over a decade of supplier-side experience at Diageo, Constellation, and Anheuser-Busch in sales, marketing, and commercial innovation. In her most recent brand side role, Kate was the Chief Revenue Officer for Leilo, a Kava beverage in the functional beverage category.  As the founder of Trending Creative, she has spent the last decade leading growth strategy and scaling execution with start-up CPG brands. She has had the opportunity to take multiple companies from ideation to multi-million-dollar product sales.

Creative, dynamic and passionate leader in the beverage and food category, Neil is the Chief Strategy Officer at Essentia. Best known as one of the leaders that turned around Snapple after its decline under Quaker, and more recently as an acknowledged expert in the development of new beverages, speaking frequently at industry events. Neil has a background in marketing, innovation & strategy, which he's used both at major corporations (Hershey, Cadbury, Snapple) and start-up brands.

Josh Jacobs is a data scientist by trade, but an entrepreneur at heart. Following his passion to build and tackle gaps in the market, Josh has launched companies in various sectors across fashion, moving, and the alcohol industry. With a BS in Mathematical Business from Wake Forest University, Josh continues to apply a data driven approach to scaling Speakeasy Co., an e-commerce and fulfillment platform for alcohol brands, as Co-Founder and CEO. When not wearing his entrepreneurial hat, you can find Josh pounding pavement along the coast in San Diego, stretching to new boundaries in the yoga studio, and generally loving the outdoors and pushing the limits physically with his college sweetheart now wife. 

Rich Stewart is a Technical Service Project Leader for the sweetener team at Ingredion with over 20 years of experience in the flavor and flavor modulation area. He has a food science degree from Rutgers University and a culinary degree from The Culinary Institute of America. Rich has been a member of the ISBT for over 10 years and has worked with major clients in the beverage space. In his spare time Rich enjoys woodworking, gardening, and cooking.

As VP Emerging Brands for New Revenue Streams (NRS), Matt Hughes leads emerging brand commercial strategies across channels and routes to market, partners with NRS investment portfolio brands to accelerate growth and leads integration of investment brands upon acquisition. In addition, Matt is developing incremental growth platforms for The Coca-Cola Co. as a member of the NRS lead team. Matt was a founding member of Coke’s Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB) in 2007 and has been in the beverage industry for over 30 years and launched three entrepreneurial beverage brands prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company. As the leader of VEB Matt led the transition of the business unit to New Revenue Streams and established the strategic relationship with Molson Coors for recently launched Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.

Ken Sadowsky is known by insiders in the beverage business as “the beverage whisperer” for having an incredible track record of investing in and advising many of the fastest-growing and most successful new beverages over the last 20 years, including Glaceau/VitaminWater, Vita Coco, Hint and LifeAID where he serves (ed) as a Director. He has also advised companies including Bai, Califia Farms, Recess, and Dyla Brands (makers of Stur and Forto). Ken is also the senior beverage advisor for Verlinvest (investment vehicle of Belgian InBev family) in the USA. He is also the executive director of NIDA, a group of independent beverage distributors in the Northeast part of the USA.

Dan has extensive global experience in general management, operations, and marketing. As the leader of new revenue streams, Dan will drive new business models and opportunities beginning with category expansion into alcohol and coffee, the integration of fast-growing premium brands including Topo Chico Mineral Water and BodyArmor, and the evolving consumer access through new dispensing platforms. Dan comes from Brian Smith’s Office of the COO where he developed new marketing models and the long-term transformation model resulting in the Enterprise-Wide Initiatives. Prior to this, he was the Senior Vice President and GM of the North America Sparkling Business Unit. Dan worked as the global CMO for the McDonald’s Global Division and was SVP, GM of McDonald’s USA business. He has had deep experience on M&A including the leadership of the Global Energy business culminating into equity investment with Monster Energy as well as the merger of IBP Beef and Tyson Foods to become the world’s largest protein company. Dan has held marketing and general management positions at Tyson, Bausch & Lomb, and Ray-Ban, and has led agency side strategic planning for brands in apparel, financial services, and fast consumer goods. In his spare time, Dan is a founding partner of Venture 53, a start-up venture capital fund and a specialty accelerator solely focused on the transportation trucking and logistics business. Dan has taught at several well-known universities including Wake Forest University and University of Georgia and was successful in his own entrepreneurial venture in creating developing and operating one of the largest and most successful live outdoor amphitheaters, The Arkansas Music Pavilion/The AMP, which was ultimately bought by the Walton Family Foundation/Walmart. He has 3 great kids (Meghan Kate, and Will), 2 OK dogs (Echo and Ridge) and saintly spouse (Amy).

Mike Schneider is a seasoned executive who lives at the collision of brand, experience and product. A long-time blogger and thought-leader, Schneider got his start drinking and evaluating craft beer and co-wrote Location Based Marketing for Dummies.

Paul Beaupre (Bo-Pray) is a 25+ year veteran of the beverage industry. He had a long, rewarding career with Coca-Cola and its VEB group working on brands like: Dasani, Monster Energy, illy RTD Coffee. In the last 6 years he has lead launch & growth phases with founders of brands such as: Tip Top Cocktails, Mocktail Club, Hella Cocktail Co, and most recently BIOLYTE. Through his consulting firm Bo Pray and GPG accelerator SKU, he fills operating, advisory, and mentoring roles with a focus on female and diverse founders.

Ben Settle is a senior member of William Blair’s investment banking team and specializes in advising High-growth Consumer companies. He has completed over 30 M&A advisory and capital markets transactions for a range of clients across founder-led, sponsor/VC-backed and publicly traded corporates. Ben received his MBA from IE Business School based in Madrid, Spain. Previously, he graduated with a BS in Business from Miami University with a dual focus in marketing and entrepreneurship. Ben is an Eagle Scout, past Emergency Medical Technician and an active board member of the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.