Departing Danone for this role was a difficult decision as I was happy and on a win streak at the time. Hale and Hearty, being an iconic fast-casual restaurant for decades, afforded me a real opportunity to not only run an organization with the sales management skills honed over the years but also have an inside perspective into the daily operations, successes, and challenges that go on within a restaurant chain. Often times, sales endeavors to get into the "shoes of an operator"...Hale & Hearty made me an authentic operator and offered me valuable perspective and knowledge. If not for the unprecedented toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on NYC operators, I would still be here.• Executed distribution / promotional strategies leading to topline sales growth of 35% • Realigned the go-to market strategy, salespeople, distribution, pricing, and investment protocols that accounted for a 53% increase in EBIDTA• Secured new partnerships including but not limited to Fairway Market, Aramark, Patina Group, Amazon, and Yankee Stadium that contributed over $4MM in sales• Revised menu and product mix offerings accounting for an average revenue per case increase of over 26%• Instituted weekly, monthly, and quarterly scorecard and business reviews with 24 distributor partners and top key accounts that reduced customer churn by 10%• Collaborated with manufacturing on package innovations that expanded RTE availability and reduced operator waste by 30%• Engaged with operations and agency partners to develop coordinated trade dress, POP materials, and brand story across all social media, virtual, and brick and mortar platforms.• Insured new recipe and category creation through market intelligence, consumer / operator feedback, and coordination with Executive Chef

A friend from past work experiences recruited me to join Danone. The challenge was to create a self sustaining and credible National Account division within the North American On-Premise business. One of my favorite things to do is to make sense out of chaos and create new ways of working so this was an offer I could not refuse. Crafting new strategic partnership across North America for amazing products like evian and Badoit and seeing the National Account business not only exist but thrive to the extent that it went from an army of one (me) to hiring and supporting incremental National Account Managers was special for me.• Secured new strategic partnerships with national chains including Four Seasons, OTG Management, SSP America, Soho House & others that more than tripled the business creating the opportunity to add incremental National Account Managers.• Created contract and retention protocols to promote insulation of current customer base resulting in a 50% increase in contracted customers versus prior year and a 20% reduction in lost business.• Review, analyze, and publish sales trends, competitive conditions and market research with recommended initiatives to meet sales objectives and customer profitability objectives.• Implemented sales forecast and profitability tools; analyze and update monthly and provide communication to senior management and team to insure achievement of annual operating plans.

When Farmer Brothers acquired the Sara Lee Coffee and Tea DSD business in 2009, it was the first time in my life that I felt like a professional athlete, traded to a new team. Being brought on to what had been a competitor of equal size and allowed to strategically lead the Key Account and Street sales teams across the US while blending all the rich history and expertise of the men and women that helped build these brands was one of the most challenging and rewarding 6 collective years of my career when including the time at Sara Lee .• Leadership support in turnaround of unprofitable DSD business specific to sales, operations and organizational design.• Engineered return-on-investment strategy that resulted in a 75% improvement in total customer base ROI performance over minimum thresholds• Designed and executed account management ROI and tools, improving current customer profits and new customer profitability resulting in double digit improvement.• Created segment gold standard sales and operations tools that drove organizational focus on regional chains and independents that improved margin across all segments.• Established performance management metrics and processes to ensure role clarity and understanding of key success factors for every position.• Utilize top-to-top communication protocol with senior level group leaders so as to help organizational leaders be efficient and effective in supporting their respective teams.

• Lead and direct customer development and retention via selling activities with field personnel, building business relationships with customers, conducting formal business reviews with key customers, manage account retention and improvement to less than 10% annual churn.• Created pricing strategy for key accounts that allowed for profitable management of customers using weighted average gross margin that allowed us to compete with our main competitors.• Collaborated on foodservice segment training and field reinforcement focused on identifying customer needs, articulating relevant solutions, and negotiating principles resulting in double-digit growth of new business acquisition and increased profit per new customer signed.

I owe my love and respect for the coffee industry to Dick and David Boyd. They opened my eyes to the importance and complexity to procuring and roasting premium coffee and how vital it is to be able to educate and support the customers that depend on delivering the emotional experience a great cup of coffee (or tea) provides to the consumer.

Consulted on several CPG and FMCG projects during this time. Ultimately, I disliked my boss ;o)

Departed Coca-Cola for an entrepreneurial opportunity with a regional staffing company.

Held multiple positions within the Coca-Cola NY bottling organization and later CCE including District Sales ManagerCold Drink Sales ManagerDivision Channel Manager