BevNET Live Winter 2024 - AGENDA

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2024
7:30 AM - 9:00 AM	Registration & Breakfast -- Location: Promenade Ballroom - Lobby Level Breakfast, coffee and beverages are served from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM PT and are included with registration. Registration and badge pick up opens for the day at 7:30 AM PT.
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM	New Beverage Showdown Semifinal Round -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level The New Beverage Showdown serves as a platform for beverage entrepreneurs to gain exposure, receive feedback, and secure partnerships or investments. Watch the semi-finalists pitch and vote for your favorite to help them make it into the finals!
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM	Sponsored Workshop: Ingredion Taste and Texture Workshop -- Location: Palisades Room - Lower Level Join Ingredion for a hands on workshop featuring insights and innovation into various trending beverage formats.  Sip our mocktail and learn about sugar reduction and flavor modification.  Shake up innovation and dive into protein and fiber fortification in nutrition focused formats.  with Allison Maloney, Technologist, Technical Service, CATALYST, Ingredion; Jason Wang, Manager, Global Beverage Applications, Ingredion; Adam Berzins, Senior Manager Global Stevia Applications and Technical Service, Ingredion; Kelcey Pusateri, Senior Technologist, TH&S, Ingredion
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM	One-to-One Meetings with Retailers, Powered by LA Vibations -- Location: Outdoor Sinder Lounge - Lobby Level Prior registration is required and meeting times are sent individually. Please check in at the One-to-One Help Desk before to heading to your meeting room. Meetings will be 10 minutes each and the complete schedule is posted at the Help Desk. with Taylor Cathala, Sr. Category Merchant, Spirits, Whole Foods Market; Samantha Fletcher, Senior Category Merchant, Whole Foods Market; Stephen Jabour, Chief Sales and Operations Officer, Spec's; Corey Nicely, Category Manager - Cooler, Pilot; Matthew Wirth, National Category Manager, Carbonated Beverages, Albertsons; Kody Severson, National Category Manager, Non-Carbonated Beverages, Albertsons
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM	Sponsored Workshop: Meeting Consumer Demands with Ingredient Innovations from Fungi -- Location: Malibu Room - Lower Level Explore current industry trends and learn how to maximize customer satisfaction using innovative approaches to flavor and sugar reduction. This interactive session will feature proprietary consumer insights and an exclusive tasting of MycoTechnology’s newly discovered honey truffle sweetener. with Caroline Schwarzman, Head of Business Development, MycoTechnology
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM	Networking Break & Taste Radio Studio --
10:00 AM - 10:10 AM	Welcome Remarks -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level
10:10 AM - 10:40 AM	Bringing Joy to the Consumer -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level Dubitsky, whose work ranges from founding, advising, or investing in groundbreaking brands in the cleaning (Method), consumer care (Eos, Hello), and food (Popcorn, Indiana) CPG space, will draw on years of design and branding experience to discuss ways that founders can instill an optimistic, consumer-friendly approach to beverage brands. with Craig Dubitsky, CEO, Happy
10:40 AM - 11:00 AM	Partnering for Growth -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level Schwartz will enumerate the ways that brands can prepare to partner with distributors as they expand, as well as discussing some of the key attributes of companies that are able to grow beyond their original geography. with Cyrus Schwartz, Founder & CEO, Dora's Naturals
11:00 AM - 11:25 AM	The Venture Capital Hunt -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level Our panel of beverage investors discusses dealflow, evaluates the state of capital availability and some of the key factors affecting the ongoing money hunt being staged by entrepreneurial brands. with Gurdeep Prewal, Co-Founder & General Partner, Rocana Venture Partners; Deborah Benton, Founder & General Partner, Willow Growth Partners; Nate Cooper, Managing Partner, Barrel Ventures
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Sponsored Workshop: Unleash Your Beverage Potential at Tate & Lyle's Boost Bar -- Location: Palisades Room - Lower Level We are dedicated to improving the taste of healthy beverages. Let's explore consumer perceptions of functional drinks and delve into strategies that enhance drink options for consumer wellness, focusing on everything from gut health to energy levels. Whether you're interested in forming a partnership or simply curious about what's on the horizon, this session promises to be both informative and inspiring. Get ready to make your functional drink fabulous. with Rebecca Henrickson, Head of Category Development, Beverage, & Flavor Houses, Tate & Lyle; Neha Kulkarni, Senior Scientist, Beverages, Tate & Lyle
11:25 AM - 11:50 AM	Finding Meaning in Milwaukee -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level Chadha will discuss his journey from General Electric to Sprecher, the ways he has altered the company’s product strategy and the role of the company within the community, and his plans for future growth. with Sharad Chadha, CEO, Sprecher Brewing
11:50 AM - 12:00 PM	BevNET's Best of 2024 Awards + New Beverage Showdown Finalists Announced -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	Lunch, Sampling & Taste Radio Studio -- Location: Bayview Ballroom - Rooftop & Hotel Lobby Lunch is served in the Bayview Ballroom on the rooftop level and in the outdoor Sinder Lounge. Lunch is included with registration. Sampling continues in the Promenade Ballroom and Taste Radio Studio livestream interviews take place in the Peninsula room on the lower level.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM	Sponsored Workshop: Hops! They’re for More than Beer -- Location: Malibu Room - Lower Level Learn about John I Haas, the history of hops, and how they can be a powerful flavor option for your next beverage.  Stay for a hands-on workshop where you can dose our liquid hop products into beverages and complete a hop rub and sniff like the pros do. with Shae Maloney, Brewing Solutions Specialist, John I. Haas; Jeff Dailey, Sensory Manager, John I. Haas
1:30 PM - 1:55 PM	State of the Market: Operators and Investors on Growth Opportunities and Challenges -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level It's hard to raise money, but expensive to thrive. This panel looks at the current tensions between the demands entrepreneurs face: in-store, in production, and on their route-to-market, and their need to manage capital wisely and find investors who can help them grow. with Rosa Li, Founder & CEO, Wildwonder; Melissa Dolan, Director, Emil Capital Partners; Karen Ivanis-Rogers, Senior Director, Albertson's Venture Group; Max Baumann, CEO, Basemakers; Christina Schmidt, Senior Category Manager, Shelf-Stable Beverages, KeHE Distributors LLC
1:55 PM - 2:20 PM	Retailer Profile: Pilot -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level With nearly 700 stores and a national footprint Pilot is one of the best-known convenience chains in the U.S. As category manager, Corey Nicely is in charge of the decisions around the beverages that fill the coolers of this key account – she’ll explain what it takes to pitch Pilot and create win-win partnerships between retailer and brand. with Corey Nicely, Category Manager - Cooler, Pilot
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM	Sponsored Workshop: Kerry’s Blueprint for Co-Creation Innovation -- Location: Palisades Room - Lower Level Discover Kerry's approach to formulating market-defining beverages through our unique co-creation model. In this session, we will highlight a partnership success story between Kerry and an iconic two-sport athlete on an emerging beverage brand that was determined to disrupt the hydration beverage category. You will experience how our unique business model, fuelled by a wide network of Kerry insights, taste, nutrition and formulation experts, led to end-to-end ideation, formulation and production at pace – from insight to shelf. Afterwards, engage directly with the Kerry team on we can help you tackle your next beverage challenge through this co-creation framework. with Amanda Wolff, Sr. Strategic Marketing Manager, Kerry; Anthony Thomas, Business Development Director, Kerry; Travis Ralph, RD&A Manager, Beverage, Kerry; Emmet Malone, RD&A Director, Beverage, Kerry; Shawn Gerstenkorn, Sr. Director Sales, Beverage, Kerry
2:20 PM - 2:45 PM	Engaging Help to Evolve the Brand -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level You’ve hit the limit of your knowledge, and your internet research won’t cut it. When should brands look for professional insights, and how do you know if you’re using them effectively? We look into a recent engagement between Smoketown and Aura Bora as a model for engaging outside help for problem solving. with Ryan Pintado-Vertner, Founder & CEO, Smoketown; Paul Voge, CEO, Aura Bora
2:45 PM - 3:05 PM	Inside Tik Tok Shop -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level Is your beverage brand ready for its fifteen seconds of fame? Learn the ins and outs of building and operating a successful business on TikTok Shop. with Cameron Gould-Saltman, Head of Food and Beverage, TikTok Shop
3:05 PM - 3:30 PM	Shifting Spirits in the Beverage Business -- Location: California Ballroom - Lobby Level Dillon’s data-based presentation evaluates trends and insights that are leading to shifts Distill Ventures is witnessing in the beverage industry, and how they are affecting both the spirits and non-alcoholic beverage categories. with Heidi Dillon, CEO, Distill Ventures
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Networking & Sampling -- Location: California Ballroom Prefunction Area Network with your peers, sample the latest beverage innovations and visit the open sponsor exhibits before heading to the rooftop for the Official Party.
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM	BevNET Live Official Party, Presented by Force -- Location: Bayview Ballroom - Rooftop Head to the rooftop ballroom of the Marriott for additional networking! Enjoy cocktails, food and the 360 degree views of Marina del Rey.

Please note that event agendas are subject to change.