BevNET Live Summer 2022 The Beverage Business at MidYear

Jun. 15, 2022 at 10:52 AM

 

From the bodega to the boardroom, our panelists are ready to talk about the state of entrepreneurial beverage brands. We'll talk through retailer attitudes, inflationary pressures and the ongoing economic environment as they affect brand growth potential, both in terms of sales and fundraising. 

About Heidi Traore:

Heidi Traore has been a passionate member of the US natural products industry since the late 1980s and currently serves as supplier relationship development manager for National Co+op Grocers (NCG), a business services and purchasing co-op with $2.5 billion in annual sales serving 148 US retail food co-op members. An established sales and marketing professional, Heidi worked with NCG’s category management team on solidifying a fact based business approach through targeted bi-annual business planning events that have enhanced business relationships and created efficiencies for her organization and its partners. Under her leadership, NCG promotional program revenue grew 69% over a four-year period. Through collaborations within cooperative supply chains, Heidi has been instrumental in bringing exclusive products produced by co-ops or made with cooperatively sourced ingredients to market at retail food co-ops. Most recently she is working to establish a supplier diversity system that will seek to diversify NCG’s supply chain.

About Ben Settle:

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.

Jessica Pratt:



With 20 years of CPG experience and a genuine adoration for growing and scaling brands, Jessica's expertise lies in the strategic planning and execution required to achieve rapid revenue growth and brand adoption. She has extensive experience leading sales strategy, implementation, business development, innovation, and has a sharp eye for compelling branding and packaging design. Jessica leads sales strategy at Pop & Bottle, creator of organic + dairy free RTD lattes. Since joining in 2019, she has secured national multi-channel distribution, driving triple digit YoY growth and elevating Pop & Bottle to a category leader status. She is also an industry advisor for Silverwood Partners Investment Bank and Mentor for The Founder Institute. Previously, she was founding team member and VP of Sales at Suja Juice, the #1 cold pressed juice brand in the US. Prior to that, she worked as a natural food/beverage broker for both Presence Marketing and Dynamic Presence, for the marketing team at Clif Bar, and as a In-Store Specialist + Product Educator Lead for Trader Joe's.



Jerry Reda:

Jerry Reda is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Big Geyser Inc. one of the largest and most influential non-alcoholic beverage distributors in the United States. He is an extremely hard working, high energy and competitive individual who loves the beverage business 7/24. Since 1986 Big Geyser has been building brands and helping to shape beverage trends not only in New York but throughout the entire country. Big Geyser is extremely selective when vetting/adding brands to its unique and exclusive portfolio. Each day, Big Geyser relies heavily on technology to support its best-in-class brand building team who work hard to assist in the growth of brands such as Boylan’s, Brew Dr, C-4, Calypso, Celsius, Electrolit, Essentia, Hal’s NY, Hint, Lemon Perfect, OWYN, Poppi, Pop Culture, Sparkling Ice, Spindrift, Super Coffee, Tampico, and many others. Big Geyser is continually re-defining the beverage landscape in New York and quite possibly throughout the United States. Beverage trends often begin in New York and Big Geyser has the ability to put new brands on the map and take existing brands to the proverbial “next level. Many industry experts feel that Big Geyser’s portfolio is a glimpse into the future of the non-alcoholic beverage business throughout our country.

 

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