BevNET is pleased to announce that Bob Bloom, the director of business development at WILD Flavors, will turn his deep experience with beverage entrepreneurs into a presentation at BevNET Live in New York on June 4 and 5.

In his presentation, called “Managing the Cost of Failure,” Mr. Bloom will outline lessons learned over years of helping usher new companies into the marketplace. His chief idea: the way a cautious approach in a company’s initial go-to-market strategy can provide company founders with the knowledge about their brand that can lead to broader success in the end.

It might not sound all positive, but little in business is, and Bloom’s argument is that the end results can be positively inspirational. Bloom, who has worked with companies ranging from Mix1 to Rockstar as part of their growth and innovation process, has helped entrepreneurs develop the checklist of skills they need for when their brands are prepared to take off, from learning to sell their product to distributors and retailers to figuring out their exact positioning, and helping them do so while maintaining a sustainable margin.

By helping entrepreneurs understand that a small-scale distribution experiment — even one that results in major changes to a product — can be a “winning failure,” Bloom will help the BevNET audience avoid the kind of creative, cash-strapped stasis that many smaller brands experience, so that they will be better prepared to succeed on a large scale, with a fully refined pitch and strategy.

About Bob Bloom

Bob Bloom, Director of Business Development at WILD Flavors, Inc., has been in the flavors business since 1976.  Mr. Bloom returned to Cincinnati to join what was at the time a small flavor company founded by his grandfather.  After he and his family sold that company in 1986, the company to which they sold was acquired by WILD in 1994.  It has been since the acquisition by WILD that Mr. Bloom has become immersed in the beverage business.  As Director of Business Development, he takes a comprehensive consultative role with many of the start-up beverage opportunities supported by WILD.  Mr. Bloom and WILD have supported many of the beverage start-ups that have made noticeable impact in the marketplace over the last 15 years. Mr. Bloom received his BA in Economics from The American University and his MBA from Xavier University.  He is married with two grown children.