Josephine (Fien) Bertrams’ Post

All of us who work in Alcoholic Beverages know how lucky we are to operate in such a vibrant and dynamic industry. We know it because we live it, however those looking in from the outside have a different perspective. This is why, with our third installment of HEINEKEN USA’s Behind the Label: “Redefining What it Means to Work in the Alcoholic Beverage Industry” we are highlighting how the industry provides meaningful opportunities for people from all backgrounds, showcasing that diverse skillsets will grow and thrive here.   We found that most people find our industry appealing and forward-thinking, also have misconceptions about the types of roles that are needed and the opportunities for career growth. The alcoholic beverage industry is rich with opportunities that extend beyond sales roles and product development and is not bound by gender, race or area of expertise.    At The HEINEKEN Company USA, we are harnessing our passion for our industry and using it to foster a sense of belonging for all. Together, we can create greater awareness of who we are and what we do. To read the report and learn more about HEINEKEN USA’S Behind the Label initiative, visit www.HEINEKENUSA.com

Know the tech and understand the business. This has been one of my key takeaways from speaking with customers and what I'm convinced sets this company apart. It’s about intimate knowledge. When you demonstrate exceptional technical expertise and a deep understanding of industry problems and processes, you can create the best possible solutions.

In the UK a program by Distill Ventures & Be Inclusive Hospitality to host a "Meet the Buyer" event at a London location TBD on JUNE 21st FRIDAY, 2024 from 12-5pm local time. This program is to help ethnically diverse & underrepresented drink brands get in front of UK retail buyers & distributors. This is a great opportunity for new brands to get in front of decision makers as some of the UK's top retailers, hospitality groups, & distributors. Hope they do this in the US and see link below to see if you qualify to attend. Good luck to anyone that applies! And now my diatribe: As a small and minority owned company myself, similarly understand the challenges with trying to work with the big on and off premise retailers and hospitality groups. Many chains/groups while looking for minority and woman owned brands to bring in, many do NOT extend their diversity/inclusion programs toward distributors where in the US, probably less than 5% of food & beverage distributors that supply the major retail and hospitality groups are minority or woman owned. FYI, I couldn't find any statistics on this and more than likely none exist and just going off my over 25yrs in CPG--if some one knows of this stat, I'd be curious to what it is. Often times in the US (and assume this happens in other countries) if a non-alcoholic brand that is minority/woman owned or not does get into a major retail chain or hospitality group, it is not uncommon for the brand to be told to work with one of the large regional or national food service distributors that the retailer/hospitality group already works with as trying to onboard a one-three SKU company involves a lot of effort. The issue is that many of these food service distributors can be difficult and down right disastrous to work with. Its not uncommon for a brand to actually OWE the distributor money due to various tactics they employ like chargebacks, forced promotional spend, portal fees & other "charges" to work with them. Unfortunately, many small brands have been burned by working with these food service distributors so their foray into a mass chain or hospitality group early on seemed like a blessing, but it can turn out to be a curse. FYI the topic of the pitfalls or working with a food service distributor is a full topic by itself & at some point I'll expound on this on another post. Any case while I'm biased of course, but I also feel distributor diversity is just as important as brand/product diversity as distribution is still the "gate keeper" & "choke point" in how brands get on the shelf/bar. https://lnkd.in/enUgMfK6

If you missed our April Executive Forum for Leaders in the Alcohol Beverage Industry, "3 ACTIONS EVERY WINE & SPIRITS LEADER CAN TAKE IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS TO QUICKLY BOOST DISTRIBUTOR SHARE OF MIND" we had a robust discussion about the state of the business, which then was in complete and chaotic decline. And we also talked about what was in our control. We will be sharing a few of the breakthrough revelations with you over the next few weeks right here... BREAKTHROUGH REVELATION #1: IDENTIFY KEY MARKETS AND REPS Don’t spread your portfolio, budget, time and energy too thin (the US is the equivalent of 50 different countries with different state legalities). Especially during tough times. Do the data research on your brands and find the few key markets that your distributors can focus on. Get to know those market reps that can move the needle. All the way down to the feet on the street level. This is your team. Build trust and credibility with them. If everyone is in New York, then find your other key markets, try to carve out your territories or specific areas of big cities. Own your relationships with reps and retailers. Retailers are being more conservative with bringing in new products as they follow the next great thing. You need to be influencing their choices. And the landscape is changing again (!!)...so, at our next invitation-only Executive Forum for Leaders in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industry, Newborn Evolution will be sharing three strategies to help your teams, partners and customers to remain resilient, confident and able to navigate through this uncertain and unstable landscape. Join us on Friday, July 26th, at 11:00am ET for a robust virtual discussion on this topic. Why you should consider joining the conversation: -Our Executive Forums are exclusive and by invitation only -We will be sharing expert insights during the forum from decades of experience in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industries -You will have the opportunity to have real-time conversations with high- level leaders like yourself, in the Alcohol -Beverage Industry who are facing similar challenges -This is a great opportunity to expand your network leadership skills -All attendees will receive a high-level recap of the most pertinent key take-aways If you would like to request an invitation for yourself or someone at your organization who may be interested please email us at Concierge@NewbornLeadershipEvolution.com and say “July 26th Executive Forum” and we will send you details. You can also find out more in the link in the first comment below. #Wine #Spirits #Beer #AlcoholBeverageIndustry #winetrends #spiritstrends #keyaccounts #strategy #businessplan

If you missed our April Executive Forum for Leaders in the Alcohol Beverage Industry, "3 ACTIONS EVERY WINE & SPIRITS LEADER CAN TAKE IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS TO QUICKLY BOOST DISTRIBUTOR SHARE OF MIND" we had a robust discussion about the state of the business, which then was in complete and chaotic decline. And we also talked about what was in our control. We will be sharing a few of the breakthrough revelations with you over the next few weeks right here... BREAKTHROUGH REVELATION #1: IDENTIFY KEY MARKETS AND REPS Don’t spread your portfolio, budget, time and energy too thin (the US is the equivalent of 50 different countries with different state legalities). Especially during tough times. Do the data research on your brands and find the few key markets that your distributors can focus on. Get to know those market reps that can move the needle. All the way down to the feet on the street level. This is your team. Build trust and credibility with them. If everyone is in New York, then find your other key markets, try to carve out your territories or specific areas of big cities. Own your relationships with reps and retailers. Retailers are being more conservative with bringing in new products as they follow the next great thing. You need to be influencing their choices. And the landscape is changing again (!!)...so, at our next invitation-only Executive Forum for Leaders in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industry, Newborn Evolution will be sharing three strategies to help your teams, partners and customers to remain resilient, confident and able to navigate through this uncertain and unstable landscape. Join us on Friday, July 26th, at 11:00am ET for a robust virtual discussion on this topic. Why you should consider joining the conversation: -Our Executive Forums are exclusive and by invitation only -We will be sharing expert insights during the forum from decades of experience in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industries -You will have the opportunity to have real-time conversations with high- level leaders like yourself, in the Alcohol -Beverage Industry who are facing similar challenges -This is a great opportunity to expand your network leadership skills -All attendees will receive a high-level recap of the most pertinent key take-aways If you would like to request an invitation for yourself or someone at your organization who may be interested please email us at Concierge@NewbornLeadershipEvolution.com and say “July 26th Executive Forum” and we will send you details. You can also find out more in the link in the first comment below. #Wine #Spirits #Beer #AlcoholBeverageIndustry #winetrends #spiritstrends #keyaccounts #strategy #businessplan

In the UK a program by Distill Ventures & Be Inclusive Hospitality to host a "Meet the Buyer" event at a London location TBD on JUNE 21st FRIDAY, 2024 from 12-5pm local time. This program is to help ethnically diverse & underrepresented drink brands get in front of UK retail buyers & distributors. Hope they do this in the US and see link below to see if you qualify to attend. And now my diatribe: As a small and minority owned company myself, similarly understand the challenges with trying to work with the big on and off premise retailers and hospitality groups. Many chains while looking for minority and woman owned brands to bring in, many do NOT extend their diversity/inclusion programs toward distributors where in the US, probably less than 5% of food & beverage distributors that supply the major retail and hospitality groups are minority or woman owned. FYI, I couldn't find any statistics on this and more than likely none exist and just going off my over 25yrs in CPG--if some one knows of this stat, I'd be curious to what it is. Often times if a brand that is minority/woman owned or not does get into a major retail chain or hospitality group, it is not uncommon for the brand to be told to work with one of the large regional or national food service distributors that the retailer/hospitality group already works with as trying to onboard a one-three SKU company involves a lot of effort. The issue is that many of these food service distributors can be difficult and down right disastrous to work with. Its not uncommon for a brand to actually OWE the distributor money due to various tactics they employ like chargebacks, forced promotional spend, portal fees & other "charges" to work with them. Unfortunately, many small brands have been burned by working with these food service distributors so their foray into a mass chain or hospitality group early on seemed like a blessing, it can turn out to be a curse. FYI the topic of the pitfalls or working with a food service distributor is a full topic by itself & at some point I'll expound on this on another post. Any case while I'm biased of course, but I also feel distributor diversity is just as important as brand/product diversity as distribution is still the "gate keeper" & "choke point" in how brands get on the shelf. https://lnkd.in/eHumPuPm

📣 What do we want?!?! 😮 Deeper consumer insights to inform the commercial teams execution and ensure proper representation of the company's premium brands in on and off premise locations! 📣 When do we want it?!?! 😮 Literally yesterday! #form #salesforce #imagerecognition

"Recently, we hosted our Executive Forum, ""3 ACTIONS EVERY WINE & SPIRITS LEADER CAN TAKE IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS TO QUICKLY BOOST DISTRIBUTOR SHARE OF MIND"" where we had a robust discussion about the state of the alcohol beverage business, which then was in complete decline. We also talked about what was in our control. We will be sharing a few of the breakthrough revelations with you over the next few weeks... BREAKTHROUGH REVELATION #4: DEFINE OR RE-DEFINE YOUR NICHE Come with clear concise plan and know your branding, target consumer, and niche. Customers don’t know they need your brand until they know why. A compelling why. Every brand has this, and distributor partners need to be able to talk about it with three main points that quickly roll off their tongue. If you can supply this for your key reps, it becomes much easier for them to sell your brands. Knowing your brand's stand out differentiators has never been as important as it is today with an unstable industry...so, at our next invitation-only Executive Forum for leaders in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industry, Newborn Evolution will be sharing three strategies to help your teams, partners and customers to remain resilient, confident and able to navigate through this uncertain and unstable landscape. Join us on Friday, July 26th, at 11:00am ET for a robust virtual discussion on this topic. Why you should consider joining the conversation: -Our Executive Forums are exclusive and by invitation only -We will be sharing expert insights during the forum from decades of experience in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industries -You will have the opportunity to have real-time conversations with high- level leaders like yourself, in the Alcohol -Beverage Industry who are facing similar challenges -This is a great opportunity to expand your network leadership skills -All attendees will receive a high-level recap of the most pertinent key take-aways If you would like to request an invitation for yourself or someone at your organization who may be interested please email us at Concierge@NewbornLeadershipEvolution.com and say “July 26th Executive Forum” and we will send you details. You can also find out more in the link in the first comment below. #Wine #Spirits #Beer #AlcoholBeverageIndustry #winetrends #spiritstrends #keyaccounts #strategy #businessplan #marketing #branding #brand #niche

A few months ago, we hosted our Executive Forum, "3 ACTIONS EVERY WINE & SPIRITS LEADER CAN TAKE IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS TO QUICKLY BOOST DISTRIBUTOR SHARE OF MIND" where we had a robust discussion about the state of the alcohol beverage business, which then was in complete decline. We also talked about what was in our control. We will be sharing a few of the breakthrough revelations with you over the next few weeks... BREAKTHROUGH REVELATION #3: NEW HIRES ARE COMING FROM OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY For years, open roles were almost exclusively filled with candidates who had years of experience in the alcohol beverage industry. And today, there is a trend of hiring other CPG experts - non-alc beverages; food industry; cosmetic industry, etc. These new hires (at all levesl of a business) have a need to learn the industry language and the culture; in order to be able to apply their skills. Your teams are the best in the business - many with years of experience. Small adjustments and new skills will put you ahead of the curve vs. chasing declining numbers or waiting for the bleeding to stop. And in today's declining, changing, shifting landscape, employees entering from outside the business need leaders who can get them up to speed and confident as quickly as possible...so, at our next invitation-only Executive Forum for leaders in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industry, Newborn Evolution will be sharing three strategies to help your teams, partners and customers to remain resilient, confident and able to navigate through this uncertain and unstable landscape. Join us on Friday, July 26th, at 11:00am ET for a robust virtual discussion on this topic. Why you should consider joining the conversation: -Our Executive Forums are exclusive and by invitation only -We will be sharing expert insights during the forum from decades of experience in the Beer, Wine & Spirits Industries -You will have the opportunity to have real-time conversations with high- level leaders like yourself, in the Alcohol -Beverage Industry who are facing similar challenges -This is a great opportunity to expand your network leadership skills -All attendees will receive a high-level recap of the most pertinent key take-aways If you would like to request an invitation for yourself or someone at your organization who may be interested please email us at Concierge@NewbornLeadershipEvolution.com and say “July 26th Executive Forum” and we will send you details. You can also find out more in the link in the first comment below. #Wine #Spirits #Beer #AlcoholBeverageIndustry #winetrends #spiritstrends #keyaccounts #strategy #businessplan #onboarding #newhires #cpg

Don’t think your idea is too big or too crazy. Because someone at Mondelez went into a product meeting and said - “We should make Coca-Cola Oreos!” “And while we are at it, let’s convince Coca-Cola to make Oreo soda.” And someone…multiple people…approved it and said “Let’s go.” This late in my career, it’s easy for me to fall into the patterns of - “This is the way it’s always been done.” “Don’t rock the boat.” “That person is the expert, so do it THEIR way.” “Eric, your idea makes sense, but they will probably think it’s stupid.” “Are you thinking TOO FAR out of the box?” But then I remember my experience and my intuition. And our clients deserve progressive, creative and innovative solutions. Not the same old, same old. So yeah - Throw those unique ideas out in the wild. Try something new and different. Suggest they make Coke Oreos. And for what it’s worth - the Oreo Coke Zero is delicious and I have two bottles chilling in the fridge right now. #creativity #innovation #hr #hrconsulting