Frank Buffone Email & Phone Number

Hood River, Oregon, United States

New York, Connecticut

• Responsible for the Sales and Marketing of the Arel Group wines in New York, and Connecticut.• Manage a portfolio of (3) wine brands: Candoni, Carletto and Polvaro.• Manage two Wholesalers: Southern Glazers (NY) and Hartley & Parker (CT).• Maintain consistent communications with wholesaler management and work closely with sales team.• Initiate sales incentives and pricing index.• Maintain and monitor inventory status and depletions.• Performed in person sales meetings to discuss incentives, competitive trends and to introduce new products. During covid, utilized zoom to perform meetings with each wholesaler.• Perform daily account calls, weekly pre-planning and in-store evaluations focusing on new points of distribution, shelve positioning and display activity.• Perform in store promotions, tastings and represent the Arel group at events throughout the northeast.• Maintain and manage monthly budgets and expenses. • Utilize VIP Karma and provide weekly reports and recaps. • Maintain direct contact weekly with upper management in both Georgia and in Italy.

New York, Ny

• Responsible for the sales and marketing of Devotion Vodka, a start up company introducing the first gluten free and sugar free vodka• Manage distributor network by providing marketing solutions and sales strategies to increase sales and account base• Work with distributor sales reps and supervisors to gain distribution, open new accounts and increase overall sales volume• Initiate weekly tastings at retail to support brand exposure, insure visibility and provide detailed information to consumers• Utilize social media via Facebook, Twitter, etc. to help promote new customer accounts and to maintain full brand support at retail• Manage monthly budgets and expenses accordingly

New York, Ny

• Responsible for all facets of business relating to the marketing and sale of Mikes Hard Lemonade products in the Metro NY area• Consistently met and/or exceeded territorial sales objectives and increased sales volume over 10% per year over the last 9 years• Instrumental in achieving annual, regional and national sales goals (Over 19 million total case sales in 2011) • Increased distribution and overall sales by executing ad features, display activity, utilizing point of sale and print/ Metro NY sales volume of over 500,000 cases• Partnered with key wholesaler supervisors and sales reps to increase sales and distribution through strategic ride withs and crew drives• Coordinate direct marketing and promotional activities including new product samplings and tradeshows (7-Eleven trade show/Atlantic City, NYC Bar Show, Gay and Lesbian trade show NYC, Beer on the pier NYC, Bourbon, Beer & BBQ festival NYC, NY Bar and Restaurant show)• Provided updated sales statistics, competitive trends and new product introductions effectively through monthly wholesaler meetings• Managed multiple wholesaler branches and developed and implemented sales force incentive’s, programs, and pricing deals through direct contacts (GSM’s, VP of Marketing and other key personnel)