Michael Valenti Email & Phone Number

St Louis, Missouri, Us

Promoted to Chief Executive Officer of a manufacturer of Licensed Spirit branded baked goods. to deliver strategic plan, top line growth, and investor return.• Secured product placement in national distributors servicing Convenience, Drug, Grocery, Club, Mass Merchandising, Travel, and Specialty channels.• Built national broker network from one legacy broker in specialty channel to 15 brokerage companies servicing the top-50 Grocery/Mass Merch, top-100 convenience, and all major Club stores.• Secured distribution in divisions of Costco, Walmart, Publix, Albertsons, Ahold, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Total Wine & More, BevMo!, Hy-Vee, and Weis Markets.• Achieved 2nd year sales growth +60% YOY through August with COVID pandemic disproportionately affecting the category.

St Louis, Missouri, Us

Led budget development and implementation for a PE backed CPG baked goods start-up.• Sourced talent to lead sales, finance, and strategy roles.• Initiated RFP with marketing, logistics, production, and legal firms selecting the best fit for the company.• Secured licensing partnerships with Diageo brands Baileys, Guinness, and Captain Morgan.• Expanded partnership with Brown Forman and the Jack Daniel’s brand, and secured licensing partnership with Pallini Limoncello and Remy Contreau/Mount Gay Rum. • Sourced R&D firm to commercialize recipes and products for all partner brands.• Oversaw submission process for all new items for approval to licensing partners.• Managed P&L and top line communication to the Board of Directors.

Bloomington, Deleware, Us

Led sales and budget development for potential acquisitions for an Independent firm focused on CPG acquisitions.• Built pro forma business plan and operating model for PE backed startup company.• Led sales presentations to potential investors resulting in a $5M cash raise to purchase the Great Spirits Baking Company.

Leuven, Be

Promoted and relocated to corporate headquarters to direct key Wholesale Operations Division (WOD) strategies for the leading global brewer, producing and marketing the world’s best-selling beers including Budweiser, Bud Light and Stella Artois.• Led overall sales and marketing strategy and performance for the division which consisted of 20 branches across the U.S. employing over 1,000 sales and marketing professionals generating $1.9 billion in net revenue.• Provided direction and leadership to two Managers of Sales Standardization, and 41 Sales Directors.• Oversaw target setting for sales team and national incentives, served as headquarters lead client for Logistics, HR, IT Solutions, Legal, and Procurement; served as ABI subject matter expert on Wholesaler Sales Excellence Panel.• Assisted in the recruitment, interviewing, selection, and approval of all site leaders.• Built and implemented WOD pilots with key projects focused on B2B, contact strategy, wholesaler route-to-market strategy & sizing, merchandiser sizing, and category space optimization.• Led planning and execution of sales process integration of 4 new WOD locations and 5 craft brewery acquisitions in 2015; built route-to-market budgets and organizational structures to maximize performance potential.

Leuven, Be

Promoted and relocated to direct overall sales & marketing at A-B’s 5th largest equity wholesaler in the U.S.• Led a team of 192 sales & marketing professionals, with indirect oversight of 185+ additional employees, covering 3,926 on and off-premise accounts, and selling 12 million cases of beer annually in the Oklahoma City market.• Directed overall strategy and execution of plans to achieve goals and objectives in alignment with corporate vision in the areas of sales, marketing, operations, finance, labor, human resources, government and industry affairs.• Managed a $32 million annual operating and expense budget, and a $2 million annual sales & marketing budget.• Improved Ambassador of Excellence mean score by 125 points to finish at 98.4% achievement.• Provided strategic leadership during integration of independent wholesaler to Wholesale Operations Division.• Served as a Director for the Beer Distributors of Oklahoma and as a Director on the Oklahoma State Chamber.

Leuven, Be

Promoted and relocated to direct overall sales and marketing operations at a company-owned wholesaler.• Led a team of 25 sales and marketing professionals, with indirect oversight of 50+ additional employees, covering 930+ on and off-premise accounts, and selling 3 million cases of beer annually in the Canton market.• Drove employee engagement +7 points vs. 2011 achieving one of the highest scores in the division.• Won WOD National Sales Incentive by executing monthly and yearly KPI’s at 97%.• Improved 2012 Ambassador of Excellence score from 62.9% to 97.1% top rank in the division.• Won incentives: Super Bowl, Platinum and Port Paradise Big Bets, Busch KVD, and Shock Top Region Incentive.

St. Louis, Mo, Us

Led and directed both on-premise and off-premise selling efforts for a market with $100+ million in annual sales.• Provided leadership and direction to a team of 90+ on and off-premise District Sales Managers, Sales Representatives and Merchandisers covering 2,950 accounts selling six million cases of beer annually.• Maximized sales performance at restaurants, bars, grocery stores, venues such as Los Angeles International Airport, Queen Mary and Home Depot Center as well as club stores, convenience stores and liquor stores.• Developed recommended monthly volume quotas, and administrated the variable compensation plan for all sales personnel tied to company, region and branch Sales objectives.• Exceeded sales and profit targets from 2006 – 2009, growing market share 1% to 44% in the competitive import/craft beer market. Sold in multiple programs to a large independent on-premise chain.• Analyzed data, competitive pricing, sales, distribution, shelf space, display space and tap space to identify gaps and opportunities, working with the local team to build programming to execute sales initiatives.• Developed customized promotional and selling plans for major special events including AVP, Long Beach Gay Pride, and several other local grassroots sponsorships of sport clubs and local influencers.

St. Louis, Mo, Us

Promoted to manage overall sales and service efforts for nearly 650 on and off-premise accounts.• Provided leadership and direction to nine Sales Representatives selling 1.2 million cases annually to ensure achievement of sales goals, and fulfillment of customer satisfaction objectives. • Trained, coached, motivated and developed Sales Representatives using B.U.S.C.H. selling and coaching skills, and improved processes to control and reduce finished product loss.• Initiated account coding updates and time-to-sell initiative to optimize sales potential for the sales department, to ensure that retail coding was correct and reports reflected accurate data for decision making.• Assisted in selling-in Los Angeles Laker draught special for multiple locations of the #1 on-premise retail account (Sharkeez) coordinating with two other wholesalers.• Identified and seized opportunities to increase sales and distribution through the development and tracking of monthly Impact Selling objectives, utilization of route accounting system to locate distribution gaps and BudNet to identify specific opportunities through target account analyzer and account business reviews.• Assisted management team in reroute of sales territory utilizing Roadnet software to increase efficiency.

St. Louis, Mo, Us

Promoted to manage an off-premise sales route for company-owned distributorship.• Executed the sales process for the beer, energy and liquor portfolio for off-premise retail accounts in the Los Angeles coastal market selling 172,000 cases per year, and generating $2.6 million in revenue.• Built relationships with nearly 100 retail accounts to drive sales growth through incremental placements, new product introductions, promotional sell-ins, and effective merchandising strategy.• Provided excellent account service by understanding customer needs, offering effective solutions, and maximizing retailer performance with a fully developed sales and marketing program.• Consistently met or exceeded monthly Impact Selling goals and volume quotas, and recognized as the top performing sales representative in 2002, helping wholesaler branch achieve its volume goals.• Increased high end distribution on both assigned off-premise routes and maintained and increased shelf space.• Chosen as member of the Employee Satisfaction team representing sales department.