Thank You for Attending
While for many it has felt like the world has stood still, the adult beverage category has continued to grow! Forbes reported a 44% increase in non-alcoholic beer purchases in May 2020 compared to the previous year. With the launch of Gordon’s 00 and Heinekens Desperados Virgin 0.0%, low and no alcohol options are more varied than ever and are coming to the fore.
The Lo & No Beverage Summit: North America, took place virtually June 22-24 2021 and brought attendees unlimited networking opportunities and lively discussions with multinational alcohol and soft drinks brands who are venturing into Lo & No. As well as innovative start-ups, active beverage investors, buyers, e-commerce providers, logistics and service providers across North America.
Our focus this year was to build successful partnerships for business growth and finance and distribution for lo and no brands to allow brands to scale. We discovered how consumer behavior is evolving, the importance of integrating sustainability as a value and where Lo & No brands fit into the health and function drinks category.
2021 ATTENDEES
OUR SERIES PARTNERS
Gold Partners
Glacier Hops Ranch
Website: https://glacierhopsranch.com/
GHR is the developer of an innovative hops-based essential oil extract - known by its registered name, Hopzoil® - with numerous applications in the beer, nonalcoholic beverage, and nutraceutical markets. Steam distilled from fresh hops and produced with no additives, Hopzoil® is a differentiated and potentially disruptive product ingredient for beer, beverage and wellness products offering a range of economic, product-flavoring and potential health benefits.
In addition to its Hopzoil® business, GHR has a global hops Broker/Dealer operation focused on the purchase and sale of a range of dried, processed hops traditionally used in beer production by breweries worldwide.
A global exporter, GHR has shipped its hop products to 48 countries on six continents.
Black Swan Data
Website: https://www.blackswan.com/
Black Swan Data is a consumer and trend intelligence company that harnesses the power of the world’s largest focus group: the internet.
Using Natural Language Processing and AI our technology continually ingests millions of real-time social data conversations to identify, decode and predict which consumer needs, benefits, products and ingredients are forecast to grow fastest in the future. The analysis is powered by a TPV (Trend Prediction Value) algorithm which has an 89% rated prediction accuracy.
We call it Social Prediction and it enables companies like PepsiCo, Colgate and P&G to connect trends, identify new opportunities and build future-focused marketing and innovation strategies.
Puremalt
Website: https://www.puremalt.com/
Employing 95 people, PureMalt was set up in 1986 and currently produces natural
ingredients for the global food and beverage industries. The Haddington-based company distributes ingredients to more than 70 countries on 6 continents.
Silver Partners
Treatt
Website: https://www.treatt.com/
Treatt is a trusted ingredients and natural extracts provider to the global flavour, fragrance and consumer goods markets from our bases in the UK, the US and China.
We have been making the world taste better since our foundation in 1886. Committed to continuous improvement, we have deep established roots and a visionary strategic path that drives us forward.
Our people are creative, technically excellent and dedicated - allowing us to develop and supply a range of ready-made or bespoke systems to suit even the most adventurous needs.
Everyone from logistics, HR, finance, operations and research and development to sales, marketing, planning, IT and procurement work together, making us the sustainable partner of choice for our international customer base.
Media Partners
IWSR
Website: https://www.theiwsr.com/
IWSR is the leading source of data and intelligence on the alcoholic beverage market. The IWSR database, essential to the industry, quantifies the global market of wine, spirits, beer, cider and RTDs (ready-to-drink) by volume and value in 160 countries, and provides insight into short- and long-term trends, including five-year volume and value forecasts, as well as consumer behaviour. IWSR tracks overall consumption and trends at brand, price segment and category level. Our data is used by the major international wine, spirits and beer companies, as well as financial and alcoholic beverage market suppliers.
IWSR’s unique methodology allows us to get closer to what is actually consumed and better understand how markets work. IWSR boasts a team of global analysts, each of whom is equipped with local market expertise and an expansive network of on-the-ground industry contacts. Our analysts meet and speak with their industry contacts throughout the year in order to capture local insight, key market trends, and the 'why' behind the numbers.
Partner With Us
Based on your objectives, we can create bespoke packages designed specifically for you – from presenting your expertise on the main stage, to hosting a private dinner. You can partner with us showcase your brand and make valuable new connections. Opportunities predominantly lie in 3 main categories: Thought Leadership, Branding & Networking.
To discuss your objectives and partnership opportunities please contact [email protected].
Interested in a media partnership?
We'd love to hear from you and how we can support one another to connect with the industry. Contact [email protected]
Speakers
Mark Livings
Ana Henriques
Danny Stepper
Lorelei Bandrovschi
Laura Lashley
Jake Hegeman
Laura Schulman
I love the food world. All of it. I love the passionate people who put their hearts and souls into building brands. The immense talent I get to know and work with – industry veterans, dietitians, chefs, start-ups, non-profits – and individuals who have a common interest in creating a more exciting, more diverse and more sustainable food system for the future.
I have spent more than two decades in this world, and where I am today is truly the best part of the journey. I started my own firm in 2019 with the goal of doing what I do best, enjoying my work and making an impact. I learned so much working at the best global PR firms in the world (Weber Shandwick, Edelman, Burson Marsteller) on best-in-class clients including PepsiCo, Quaker, Campbell Soup Company, Oreo, Kraft, ADM, Cherry Marketing Institute and National Confectioners Association. And, it’s how I met my co-founder Etienne Hernandez – Medina who I’m proud to be partnering with on food forward work.
In my most recent role as an SVP, Partner at FleishmanHillard, I built and ran the Chicago office’s multi-million-dollar Food & Nutrition practice from the ground up. I started Food Futures Strategies. Now it was time to build something of my own. I created Crave It PR with my co-founder, colleague and friend Etienne Hernandez-Medina, the CEO of H+M Communications, to put game-changing brands front and center in today’s food culture, and grow their relevance and revenue in new, exciting ways.
Sarah Sisisky
Renata Bergman
Bill Shufelt
Craig Hutchison
Josh Carlos
Trudy Thomas
Mathilde Boulachin
James Kindred
Chris Olson
Camille Vidal
Zoey Henderson
Tom Britz
A career business development professional, Tom is the Founder and CEO of Glacier Hops Ranch, which pioneered Hopzoil® back in 2015. Tom previously held senior management positions in the U.S. ski resort industry in Vail, Colorado as well as in the payments industry.
A hop-industry insider, Tom was the first-ever national At-Large Director of the Hop Growers of America (HGA) and was subsequently appointed as National Chairman of the HGA’s Small Grower Council.
Now living in the shadow of Glacier National Park, Tom and his team call Whitefish, Montana home.
Charlotte Catignani
Brandy Rand
Brandy Rand is the Chief Operating Officer, Americas for the IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the leading source of global beverage alcohol data and trends from across 157 countries, including market forecasts. As COO, Brandy oversees demand generation and strategy for North America, Canada and the Caribbean region.
Brandy joined the IWSR after 18 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. Brandy also ran her own consulting practice for many years, specializing in brand-building for media and consumer packaged goods, with clients such as Anheuser-Busch, Ritz Carlton, Beam Suntory and Bowers & Wilkins.
Brandy writes extensively about beverage alcohol in both national and trade publications. She sits on the advisory board of Vinexpo New York and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including National Beverage Alcohol Control Association, Wine and Spirits/Beer Business Summit, Bar Convent, Brewer’s Association and BevNet. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Tufts University and has done graduate studies in literature at Harvard University.
Heidi Dillon Otto
Emily Pennington
Emily Pennington is Manager, Content & Education at Park Street, a provider of productivity-enhancing and cost-saving back-office solutions, advisory services, working capital, compliance management, export solutions, integrated accounting, and human resources management solutions to more than 16,000 alcoholic beverage brands from the U.S. and around the world. The company’s clients range from entrepreneurs to multi-brand global suppliers, and include craft distillers, centuries-old family businesses, award-winning wineries, innovation brands, and more. Formerly, Ms. Pennington was the Managing Editor for industry trade publication Wine & Spirits Daily, where she reported on breaking news, industry trends and conducted in-depth interviews with executives in the beverage alcohol space for eight years.
Ioana Tanasa
Ioana Tanasa (pronouns she/her) is currently Senior Marketing Director in the Global Non-Alcoholic Beverage Unit (NABev), part of the ABInbev. In her role she is leading and supporting marketing and innovation efforts across multiple beverage brands distributed across the Americas, Africa, China, and the United Kingdom. Prior to this role she was the Senior Innovation Director in the global team driving the Global Innovation agenda for the ABI Global Beer Brands (Budweiser, Corona & Stella Artois). She started her career in P&G and spent almost a decade working on several categories, as well as building a strong brand marketing & commercial background. Originally from Romania, she holds a B.A in Marketing (Bucharest) as well as an Ashridge Business School Leadership/Management certification. In her free time, she likes to paint, travel, bake, and spend time with family.
Milan Martin
Milan is a creative business executive with a history of driving growth and success in both large enterprise and entrepreneurial environments. For the past decade, Milan has held executive-level positions across three continents, leading both Fortune 50 and growth brands.
In 2020, Milan founded The Free Spirits Company and is currently the CEO of the organization. Working with a talented team of multi-disciplinary professionals, Milan is dedicated to changing drinking culture by offering people better “no and low alcohol” options when ‘drinking’. Free Spirits is one of the leading brands in a quickly growing category and is poised to continue to innovate and expand rapidly across markets.
Prior to Free Spirits, Milan led Grey Advertising through a significant turn-around and to the most successful time in its history. Under Milan’s leadership, Grey San Francisco was recognized as one of the fastest growing, most creatively awarded agencies on the West Coast. Taking home top honors at festivals including Effies, Cannes, OneShows and D&AD, in addition to the business results achieved for Grey’s clients were all factors in the Agency being named as Global Agency of the Year three years running.
Earlier in his career, Milan spent over a decade at Ogilvy & Mather in both London and New York City, later joining a digital agency as Chief Strategist where he also orchestrated the sale of the company to a publicly traded organization.
A native of the East Coast, Milan now lives with his family in Mill Valley, California where he plays drums (serviceably) in a neighborhood dad band called “The Sofa Kings”.
Matt Withington
Matt Withington is the Marketing Director of Samuel Adams, responsible for brand strategy, communications, and portfolio development. Matt began his career at the Boston Beer Company in 2017, leading the Angry Orchard Hard Cider brand, and has spent more than 15 years in food and beverage as both a marketer and an operator. He and his wife Kayleigh live in Newburyport, MA and are avid travelers.
Marcos Salazar
Marcos Salazar is the founder of For All Drinks (https://foralldrinks.com), a social impact company helping people discover delicious non-alcoholic drinks for leading a fun, healthy, and inclusive lifestyle through events, community, and the top rated For All Drinks podcast. Marcos also launched the first Dry January Festival in 2021 (http://www.dryjanuaryfestival.com) to help non-alcoholic beverage brands connect with U.S. Dry January participants. Marcos is also Co-founder + CEO of Be Social Change where he’s built the largest social impact community in New York City.
Allison James
Ian Burst
Paul Tecker
Paul’s career began in retail marketing as a Category Manager / Buyer for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages at a major convenience store chain. He then moved to the brand side as a Brand Manager for Hansen’s - Monster Beverage Company. After Hansen’s was sold to Coca-Cola, Paul acted as a consultant to natural and organic beverage companies and personally launched H2OPS Sparkling Hop Water, a zero alcohol, unsweetened, refreshing hoppy alternative to beer. This innovation won the Beverage Innovation of the Year award from Beverage Industry Magazine and is growing rapidly in the US.
Michael Hermann
Mike joined Allied Beverage Group in March 2017 as Vice President of Sales where he currently manages two divisions. Just completing his first year at the company, Mike has shown a great aptitude for thinking strategically. In his new role Mike will lead our Marketing Department overseeing the company’s Portfolio Managers, Ambassadors, and Trade Marketing disciplines. These will include implementing supplier driven route to market initiatives as well as company generated ones.
Prior to joining the company, Mike the past eight years at Pernod Ricard as the National Vice President of Sales for the Wine & Champagne Division. Mike also spent time with Pernod Ricard Spirits team as a Business Unit Director.
He also has held various roles throughout the country with a multitude of responsibilities for companies such as E&J Gallo, Johnson Brothers, Glazers and Premier Beverage.
Mike resides in Middletown, NJ.
Register Your Interest for 2022
Register your interest for our 2022 Lo & No Beverage Summit: North America and be the first to receive our newly released agenda!
Key agenda highlights include:
Strategize: Understand how the increase in well-being awareness has driven consumer behavior towards the low and no market and more mindful drinking, and how you can incorporate consumer demand into your business.
Innovate: Discover the possibilities available to you in the space, from ingredient technology advancements to CBD and functional drinks
Collaborate: Establish partnerships with those best-placed to help you grow, whether they're investors looking to expand their portfolio, big companies seeking out the disruptive brands, or service providers at the forefront of ingenuity
Register Your Interest for 2022
Lo & No Highlights
About Kisaco Research
Kisaco Research produces, designs and hosts B2B industry conferences, exhibitions and communities – focused on a specialized selection of topic areas.
Meet industry peers that will help build a career-changing network for life.
Learn from the mistakes of your peers as much as their successes—ambitious industry stalwarts who are happy to share not just what has made them successful so far but also their plans for future proofing their companies.
Note down the inspired insight that will form the foundation for future strategies and roadmaps, both at our events and through our online communities.
Invest both in your company growth and your own personal development by signing up to one of our events and get started.
