Why Attend
As sober-curious consumers embrace new lifestyle choices, the low and no alcohol industry is gearing up for considerable growth in North America. According to the IWSR Global opportunities in Low and No Alcohol report, in the USA alone, 52% of consumers are trying to reduce their alcohol intake. This is inline with the global trend of health consciousness fuelled by wellness culture. But this begs the question is the mindful drinking movement here to stay or is it just a fad?
Alcohol sales in the USA have been falling since 2016. While in the UK the low and no alcohol market makes up 1.3% of the beverage market, it only represents 0.5% in North America. In terms of market share, the low and no market is currently made up of 60.4% low/no beer, but the ready to drink category is expected to grow by 38.8% in the next two years.
There is a wealth of untapped opportunity for disruptive start-ups, mid-tier independent beverage brands as well as multinationals, to create great tasting drinks to cater for this growing market. The Lo & No Beverage Summit: North America, November 2-3 in Los Angeles is your opportunity to meet with incumbent international brands venturing into the low and no alcohol category, innovative and disruptive low and no start-ups, as well as venture capitalists and ingredients manufacturers who are all entering the low and no space. Network with on/off traders who are hacking into this consumer trend with ingenious menus featuring the latest creations.
What will the Lo & No Beverage Summit: North America help you to achieve?
Embracing new consumer preferences: explore the latest trends from data analytics and the key drivers for the low and no category.
Engaging the consumer: Discover how established and aspiring brands have developed their messaging, packaging and serving methods to meet with mindful drinkers’ expectations.
Market access: Network with buyers who are actively formulating their low and no strategies and looking to discover innovative products that entice the sober curious
Gaining distribution: Learn from successful brands on their key challenges when entering or expanding in the US and Canadian markets.
Strategizing: Understand the growing consumption trends to future-proof your business
Product pricing and placements: Learn what works and what doesn’t
Innovation: stay informed in the latest breakthroughs and innovations in the premium adult drinks category including CBD and other functional drinks
Regulation: Get the latest information from Federal and State level regulators on labelling requirements and descriptors, to support your market access strategy
Troubleshooting: Network with investors, learn from their strategies and find solutions for your financing needs
Who Will Be There
Early Confirmed Attending Companies
Speakers
Pete Marino
Harry Kohlmann
Olga Osminkina-Jones
Ana Henriques
Jakub Skyvara
Rob Fink
Rob Fink is CEO of Big Drop, a company he founded with zero brewing experience less than three years ago. And there wasn’t even anyone he could emulate… Rob was the first ever brewer to focus exclusively on Alcohol Free beer and the first to apply left-field fermenting techniques that meant no alcohol needed to be artificially extracted from the end product after brewing. Big Drop’s range of 0.5% ABV craft beers are available in supermarkets (Tesco, Ocado, Morrisons) with on-trade listings including: All Bar One, The Ivy Group, Barworks and Draft House. It has won numerous awards including No/Lo Champion at the 2019 International Brewing Awards and - the ‘Holy Grail’ of any non-alcoholic drink - winning against full-strength competitors (eg at the World Beer Awards and King of Craft at the Casual Dining show). Now with exports shortly to account for half of sales, Big Drop is also becoming a big name overseas too.
Fabien Gross
The wine house ‘Pierre Chavin’ was founded by Fabien Gross
and Mathilde Boulachin. Fabien Gross is a specialist of the art
of wine-blending and wine innovation.
Originally from Alsace, is grandfather, with whom he grew up,
had a wine estate and taught him the first tricks of the trade.
Fabien became passionate about viticulture and wanted to
delve into the scientific and biological aspects of the job.
For this, Fabien went to study agronomy, oenology in
Burgundy and WSET Diploma (starting the Master of Wine).
After successfully completing this, he started a blitz career in
the French wine industry and in California.
After several top jobs at large French wineries, Fabien wanted
to develop his own wine estate. In 2010, his dream became
reality and he founded the Villa Noria domain, where he
focused on the production of organic, environmentallyfriendly
wines.
There, our winegrower met Mathilde Boulachin, a marketing
specialist, and they founded wine estate Pierre Chavin
together.
At Pierre Chavin, Fabien is the chief winemaker and in charge
of R&D, innovation. He creating since 2011 the new line of
alcohol free wine.
Pierre Chavin is now the first French producer of premium
alcohol free wines.
Courtney Dorne
- A Southern California girl at heart, Courtney grew up in her family’s restaurants for the first 14 years of her life. In the service industry, she learned nights, weekends, and holidays were just more opportunities to work a half day (12 hours) and to contribute to the family business. As a teenager, her first career in product telemarketing sales taught her the life lessons of rejection, the art of a good close, motivation, and knowing that each “No” she received just put her closer to the “Yes” she wanted. Following that path, Courtney moved across the country to run sales, marketing, and management for a chain of retail stores. She honed her talents over many trade shows and industry events, and after spending years building someone else’s empire, Courtney decided to take a leap. She agreed to an equity position to return to the business she helped start on her living room floor back in high school.
- Fresh and Ready Foods became a fresh food manufacturer and distributor with more than 12,000 customers across the western US. With 120,000 sq ft of FDA and USDA regulated kitchens running 24/7, and 70 daily truck routes from four distribution centers, the company grew to nearly 500 employees by servicing airlines, airports, hospitals, universities, the US Military, hotels, convention centers, convenience stores, and many others. In fact, if you've been west of Texas or bought a pre-made sandwich in the past 20 years, there's a good chance Courtney had something to do with it.
- After selling the food company in late 2015, Courtney left in June of 2016 to take some time off and relax with her family. She clearly did not know what that meant, because in July of 2016, she joined The Vertical Companies in Agoura Hills as President of Brands. One of the largest Cannabis Management Companies in the US, Vertical has roughly 1.5m sq ft of cultivation and manufacturing facilities, and manages large scale licensing, development, manufacturing, extraction, and distribution operations in the industry, along with retail and consumer brands. Under Courtney's leadership, the company is launching multiple, unique brands across the US.
- Her leadership continues as a member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) Hollywood chapter. She began in 2010 in the Las Vegas Chapter and has held multiple leadership roles including Chair of WBN (Women's Business Network) and is on her chapter's leadership ladder. When not working or networking, Courtney enjoys spending her free time with her two inspiring children. She is also passionate about working to feed hungry children and is an avid supporter of multiple cancer organizations.
Bill Shufelt
Alana Burstein
Alana always had plans to one day run a business of her own. For years, wine was her drink of choice when entertaining friends. After an evening of one too many glasses of wine, Alana knew she wanted to end her relationship with alcohol. So she channeled her energy into inspiration.
Frustrated with the sugary and juicy taste of wines without alcohol on the market, Alana was motivated to innovate. In 2016, with the legalization of cannabis on the horizon, Alana sought solution that could result in a more predictable elevation than edibles and a healthier alternative to smoking.
Alana spent countless hours sourcing the finest California grapes and premium cannabis, researching compliance and technology, and developing a team that could bring her vision to life. And in 2019, Viv&Oak was born. Full of flavor, low in sugar and low in calories, her creation is disrupting the industry. With Viv&Oak, Alana hopes to help break the stigma around cannabis and encourage fellow health-conscious consumers to toast to something really worth celebrating.
Dooma Wendschuh
Dooma Wendschuh, MFA is CEO & Co-Founder, of Province Brands of Canada. Under Mr. Wendschuh’s leadership, PBC has earned global notoriety (more than 2,000 mentions in the global media), raised more than $20 Million from venture investors (now has a valuation north of $70 Million) and now employs some of the top research scientists in the cannabis space.
Following more than one hundred speaking engagements, dozens of appearances on international television, Mr. Wendschuh has emerged as a leading voice in the burgeoning cannabis industry - advocating for a new paradigm where cannabis products can be a less harmful alternative to alcohol.
Prior to founding Province Brands of Canada, Mr. Wendschuh co-founded and ran a Colorado-based cannabinoid research firm which sold to Canopy Growth Corp. for more than $430 Million.
Before entering the cannabis industry, Mr. Wendschuh was co-founder & co-CEO of sekretagent Productions, a film & video game production company & advertising agency with offices in Los Angeles & Montreal. Collectively, sekretagent’s video games grossed more than USD $6 billion in worldwide sales. sekretagent’s advertising division worked for The Coca-Cola Company, General Motors, Polaroid & others. Under Mr. Wendschuh’s leadership, sekretagent also sold 8 motion picture scripts to major studios & produced THE PLAGUE for Sony Screengems.
Mr. Wendschuh graduated magna cum-laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University, & received his Masters from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema / Television Peter Stark Producing Program.
Amy Ludlum
Heidi Dillon Otto
Sam Thonis
David Begg
Julie Cielo
Bill Gamelli
As an innovator in the No/Lo alcohol adult beverage industry, Bill and his family are proud to be exporting their premium drinks, made in the U.K., to 3 Continents. Bill brings his 15 years of finance experience at the global investment banks where his practice focused on post IPO and M&A liquidity for Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Start-up Company clients. Bill earned his undergraduate degree with double majors in economics and political science from Boston University, where he met his roommate, friend, and co-founder, Jim Dowla and, lucky for him, his wife Tracy. She turned out to be the inspiration for creating Mocktails, along with other family members among the Founders, Jim Dowla ad Mark Guthrie. Once Bill discovered that Mark and Jim were also starting a No/Lo alcohol beverage company, and they realized that 3 of 6 adults in their families were non-drinkers, it was an easy decision to pool their resources, and Mocktails was born.
Marcus Sakey
Steve Pearce
Derek Brown
Derek Brown is a spirits and cocktail expert, consultant, writer, and owner of 2017 Spirited Award winning “Best American Cocktail Bar” Columbia Room, and author of Spirits, Sugar, Water, Bitters: How the Cocktail Conquered the World published by Rizzoli in April 2019. His work has earned several James Beard Award nominations, "Author of the Year" for the 2020 Nightclub & Bar Show Awards, and 2015 “Bartender of the Year” in Imbibe magazine. He is also Chief Spirits Advisor to the National Archives Foundation and a Distinguished Fellow at Catholic University’s Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship. Brown’s writing on spirits and cocktails has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Vox and other publications. In 2019, Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema named him one of the fifteen trailblazers since 2000 that have made Washington, D.C. a better place to eat (and drink).
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.
Danny Stepper
Lindsey Bauer
Jeff Stevens
Marlon Hernandez
Lorelei Bandrovschi
Laura Lashley
Stephen Dillon
Stephen Dillon is the founder of Dublin based drinks innovation company RTM Beverages - The RTM portfolio is heavily focused on the No-Lo categories - Noki & Co. The Alcohol Free Gin & Tonic flavoured drink was launched in November 2018 and Loki & Co. Europe's first 'Hard Seltzer' was launched in 2017. A serial entrepreneur in the drinks industry Stephen has previously established a number of brands and businesses, he most recently worked as European Sales Director for the craft & speciality division of Ab-InBev. Stephen is a qualified beer sommelier and holds a WSET diploma in wines & spirits - he specialises in spotting trends in the drinks industry and bring innovative products to market at pace.
David Crooch
Ted Fleming
Eugenio Muraro
He has over 15 years of work experience in Sales & Marketing, first in the mechanical sector and then in the renewable energy sector. It was a period, during which he has achieved a mixture of skills and a knowledge of the international scene through frequent business trips abroad. His
passion for the world of cocktails led him in 2002 to successfully attend a professional bartending course. Later he participated in the 2015-2017 MBA Executive of the MIP Politecnico di Milano. The Master Degree program included the presentation of a business plan for the creation of a startup company and his project was awarded in July 2017. This project is called MeMento.
Craig Hutchison
Platinum Partners
Mocktails
Website: https://www.mocktails.com
Our three families discovered that we were all searching for fun alcohol-free drinks without the artificial ingredients, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup when not drinking craft beer, wine, or cocktails. Sodas of any kind were clearly out. Water is healthy, but boring when you’re with colleagues, friends and family. Born out of our own need for a better experience, we started making small batch mixology inspired drinks that had taste worthy of the adult pallet without the hassle, calories, or chemicals. Today, we uniquely craft our alcohol-free cocktails in the UK, and distribute them on 3 Continents. Because we believe in doing well by doing good, we donate 10% of our profits to worthy causes. To learn more, visit www.mocktails.com.
Gold Partner
Black Swan Data
Website: https://www.blackswan.com/
Black Swan delivers precise, data-driven consumer trend predictions by combining social data with AI. Our data science based solutions enable brands to distinguish between what is a fad versus a sustainable trend, when they should action the trend, and how to communicate it effectively to consumers.
Silver Partner
Media Partners
Beverage Dynamics
Website: https://beveragedynamics.com/
Please visit our website for more information.DrinkPreneur
Website: https://www.drinkpreneur.com/
DrinkPreneur is a unique community of drink entrepreneurs. Our main purpose is to guide and inspire future and current beverage entrepreneurs by providing necessary information about beverage industry.
At the same time to create easier communication between raw material producers, contract manufacturers, packaging producers, marketing specialist, designers and everyone that is involved in beverage industry all over the world.
DrinkPreneur is giving you space to communicate, share experience and ideas, find solutions for new business and to discover ways how to upgrade already existing ones.
FoodBev
Website: http://foodbev.com
With two leading publications and 5 dynamic award schemes, FoodBev Media provides everything our audience needs to stay on top of the latest news, views, trends and innovations across the whole of the food and beverage industry. Covering topics from nutraceuticals and personalised nutrition to blockchain, learn how you can stay in-the-know in your sector today.
Inside Drinks
Website: https://www.nridigital.com/inside-drinks/
Please visit our website for more information.Liquid Careers
Website: https://www.liquidcareers.com/
Please visit our website for more information.Tasting Panel
Website: https://www.tastingpanelmag.com/
Please visit our website for more information.Restaurant Connection
Website: https://www.restaurateurconnection.com/
Join our community of over 91,000 restaurant owners and managers at Restaurateur Connection. Restaurateur Connection brings together the widest set of expert, thought-leadership content from hundreds of leading sources. Powered by Aggregage technology, Restaurateur Connection uses machine intelligence, smart algorithms, social media, and audience-driven data to deliver the most relevant insights directly to you. Sign up today to receive personalized content: www.restaurateurconnection.com.
2019 Highlights
Download agenda
We're delighted to be launching The Lo & No Beverage Summit in LA, 2-3 November 2020.
Key agenda highlights include:
Meet decision makers representing established and emerging brands including MolsonCoors and Partake Brewing; on and off trade establishments such as Park Street and Langham Hospitality Group; and investors at the only business to business platform in the low and no alcohol category in North America
Learn about the disruptive forces that underpin consumers’ preferences for low and no beverages, and understand how your business can make the most of these opportunities
Engage in experience sharing with industry leaders to take ownership of your brand’s destiny by understanding how to maximize sales and ensure a unique product offering
Download the latest agenda here and opt-in to hear from the latest news, insights and events in the Low and No Category
Download the Lo & No Beverage Summit: North America agenda
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With our extensive marketing experience and strategy, your partnership with Kisaco Research will grant you a sponsorship package that is an extension and enhancement of your current marketing and branding efforts. We value your ROI and will work with you directly on your specific goals and targets – that’s why we take special care in finding the most relevant end-users to attend, so that your financial and resource investment is smartly allocated.
Find out more by calling us at +44 (0)20 3696 2920 or email us at [email protected].
Venue
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