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BUILDING BETTER BEVERAGE BUSINESS ™
Journals In this Issue
A review of the 11th Annual Premier On-Premise Beverage Conference
2020
Volume 2 Summer 2014 • itmmag.com
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Refresh Your Summer
The Zenato Family; Carla (center) and children, Nadia and Alberto
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT NationalAccountsON@winebow.com
@WINEBOW
Š 2020 Selected and Imported by Winebow, Inc., New York, NY.
Since 1960, the Zenato winery has reflected the richness and history of the Lake Garda region in its wines. Known for its quality and consistency, Zenato delivers some of the finest wines in Northern Italy. This pinot grigio with its zesty fruitiness, refreshing palate, and dry finish, is meant to be enjoyed young and is great for any occasion.
2020 Operators Learn About the Latest Beverage Trends The 11th Annual Premier On-Premise Beverage Conference Featured Networking Opportunities, Workshops, Tastings and More
VIBE Conference’s Official Charity, Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE), Raised 100,000 + for Families in the Food and Beverage Industry Facing Terminal Illnesses or Sudden Losses.
More than 200 operators representing more than 150 separate chain restaurants, hotels and cruise lines traveled to Carlsbad, California to attend the 2020 VIBE Conference Feb. 24 — 26. Throughout three days, attendees learned about the latest beverage trends through education workshops, beverage tastings, research sessions and lively networking opportunities. Also on hand were about 400 sponsor attendees representing more than 100 companies supporting the conference, with more attendees coming from distributors, agencies, consultants, speakers and industry notables, taking the total attendance above the 700 mark. Before the start of the conference, the official charity of VIBE, Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE) invited operators to its annual “Giving Back to Our Own” party on Monday. Through the event and its partnership with VIBE, CORE raised 100,000+ for families in the food and beverage industry facing terminal illnesses or sudden losses. Summer 2014 • itmmag.com
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On Tuesday, well-known wine consultant Evan Goldstein kicked off the two-day event by welcoming operators to the VIBE Conference inside the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa. Opening remarks were made by Goldstein, American Beverage Institute’s Rick Berman and Questex’s CEO Paul Miller. Following that, attendees were treated to one of the top-rated presentations given annually, by Jack Li and Colleen McClellan of Datassential. They discussed current trends that influence consumer behavior in the on-premise environment and how operators can best get their attention. Goldstein then presented the VIBE On-Premise Industry Innovator of the Year award to Bert “Tito” Beveridge, Founder and Master Distiller of Tito’s Handmade Vodka; and the On-Premise Industry Legend Award to Joe Smith, Senior Vice President, Sales, Monin Gourmet Flavorings. 4
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The VIBE Conference Presented the 2020 VIBE Legend Award to Joe Smith, Senior Vice President, Sales, Monin Gourmet Flavorings Joe was recognized for his contributions of creating new ways to continue to serve American consumers with cutting-edge methods. Smith has over 45 years of sales and management experience in the food and beverage industry, having had earlier successes at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. and Hills Brothers Coffee. Now his career has been marked by his contribution to the on-premise market through his long association with Monin Gourmet Flavorings. Since joining Monin, he has restructured the sales and customer service departments, and implemented a strategic business development plan that included adding the sales operations department and expanding 6
staff in the beverage innovation area. Under Smith’s leadership over the last 18 years, Monin has been awarded many beverage excellence honors by valued customers and organizations. These include VIBE’s Non-Alcoholic Supplier of the Year since the award inception eight years ago. Joe was also recently recognized with the Hospitality Executive Exchange’s 2018 Icon Award, CORE’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2014 Icon Award from the Millennium Board. He was previously Chairman of the Board of CORE and remains a board member; he is also a board member of Hospitality Executive Exchange and a board member of the Flavor Conference.
TO OUR INDUSTRY FAMILY We are humbled to work in such an outstanding industry, with exceptional people. Through good times and bad, our service community is strong, supportive and resilient. We congratulate each and every VIBE winner and eagerly await the day we can get back to normal, together. – From all of us at Monin
#KeepYourSpiritsUp #InThisTogether
monin.com
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The VIBE Conference Presented the 2020 On-Premise Innovator of the Year Award to Bert “Tito” Beveridge, Founder and Master Distiller of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, a pioneer in the world of spirits In 1997, before he sold a single drop of spirit, Tito fought to create a permitting process in Texas in order to legally open the state’s first distillery. Without investors or any formal training, and on a tiny budget, he relied on credit cards to fund his dream and ran up 19 of them before he started making money. With the unwavering dedication of
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a small, devoted staff and friends who pitched in to help build the distillery shack, his dream started to take shape. Early on, Tito worked day and night in the one-room shack, cooking Vodka constantly and sleeping when he could. Days at the distillery, filled with handbottling, screwing on caps, and putting Elmer’s glue on paper labels, were punctuated with those spent canvassing Austin. He met with local liquor stores and distributors, sharing his Vodka at parties and introducing his brand to build a cadre of local, loyal followers. Tito would head home exhausted and exhilarated; then wake up and do it all over again.
VIBE Conference Honors 2020’s Top Beverage Companies During the Supplier Awards Ceremony For the past nine years, the VIBE Supplier Awards has invited beverage operators to rate their respective supplier companies, through an online survey, on key attributes including business-building support as well as service and support performance. To ensure efficient, fair and unbiased balloting and analysis, survey results were analyzed by food and beverage industry research and consulting firm CM Profit Group. Winners were then identified in four categories including beer, wine, spirits and non-alcohol beverages, categorized by total annual case volume.
This year’s VIBE Supplier Awards category winners included: BEER: • Large company: Constellation Brands • Medium company: The Boston Beer Co. • Small company: New Belgium Brewing Co.
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WINE: • Large company: E&J Gallo Winery • Medium company: Jackson Family Wines • Small company: J. Lohr Vineyards & Winery
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SPIRITS: • Large company: Beam Suntory • Medium company: Sazerac • Small company: Tito’s Handmade Vodka
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NON-ALCOHOL: • Large company: Red Bull • Medium company: Monin • Small company: Q Mixers “We are thrilled that this year the VIBE Supplier Awards will be based on research from the annual CM Profit On-Premise Partnering Study. We really appreciate the time that almost 50 operators took to participate in live interviews to choose the winners. Suppliers also really appreciate this participation because it creates a fair process,” said Tom Fox, Managing Partner, CM Profit Group.
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VIBE Conference Presents the 2020 VIBE Vista Award Winners VIBE Vista Awards recognize the top performers in the beverage industry through the creation, training, execution, management and on-going positive results of beverage programs. Entries were reviewed by a panel of Johnson & Wales University beverage faculty, staff and alumni, and were judged on positive beverage sales initiatives, efficient operational innovations and training and service programs producing high quality standards. This year’s VIBE Vista Award winners: • Best Beer Program sponsored by New Belgium Brewing went to Taco Mac. • Best Spirits Program sponsored by Edrington went to Walt Disney World. • Best Wine Program sponsored by the VIBE Advisory Council went to Holland America Line. • Best Adult Alcohol-Free Program sponsored by MONIN Gourmet Flavorings went to Hard Rock Café. • Best Beverage Menu Revamp sponsored by Gerard Bertrand went to Norwegian Cruise Line. • Best Beverage Promotion sponsored by Beam Suntory went to Marriott International. • Best Beverage Limited Time Offer (L.T.O.) sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka went to Chili’s Grill & Bar. • Best Responsible Alcohol Service sponsored by the VIBE Advisory Council went to Royal Caribbean International. • Best Training Program sponsored by the VIBE Advisory Council went to Royal Caribbean International. • Best Overall: Multi-Unit Chain Restaurants sponsored by Pernod-Ricard went to Chart House.
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• Best Overall: Hotels, Cruise Lines and Casinos sponsored by Moët Hennessy went to Walt Disney World.
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