March 2021 | Biz Buzz

Biz Buzz

CORPORATE

→ The following Heidelberg Associate promotions became effective as of January 1, 2021. Reed Birkenholz,VP of Sales – Low Proof Spirits; Chris Emmons, VP of Sales – Craft Beer; Pat Keith, VP of Sales – High Proof Spirits and Matt Smith, VP of Sales – On Premise. Congratulations!

→ Adam Farkas has been promoted to Director of Non-Alcoholics, effective on March 15. In this new corporate role, he will create and assist in all areas associated with the marketing of Non-Alcoholic brands and products for our sales and leadership team. In addition, Adam and his team will grow and develop sales of Non-Alcoholic brands within the company.

→ A big thank you to all the Associates in each of our markets who kept our products moving during February’s snowy third week. Ohio and Kentucky saw significant snow and ice, leading to poor road conditions and hazardous driving. Our drivers, operations Associates, and sales pros all did a fantastic job in making sure everything was delivered safely!

→ Black-owned Victor George Vodka “VG,” announced in February, it has launched its award-winning vodka throughout the state of Ohio and will be brokered by Heidelberg. The brand is based in South Florida, but CEO and Founder Victor G Harvey, was born in Columbus, Ohio and is a Bowling Green State University graduate. VG Vodka will be available in Ohio at major retailers such as Kroger, Giant Eagle and several other retail outlets.

VICTOR GEORGE VODKA 2019 SILVER MEDAL WINNER AT THE
2019 WORLD SPIRITS COMPETITION IN SAN FRANCISCO.

KENTUCKY

→ Heidelberg Distributing is teaming up with Brown Water Spirits LLC to distribute H. Ingram River Aged Whiskey to consumers in markets across Kentucky. The O.H. Ingram River Aged Series is the only whiskey aged inside a first-of-its-kind floating rickhouse moored on the riverbank in Ballard County, KY.

OH INGRAM RIVER AGED STRAIGHT AND RYE WHISKEY.

OH INGRAM’S FLOATING RICKHOUSE MOORED ON THE BANKS
OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY.

TOLEDO

→ A virtual beer tasting with Great Lakes Brewing, was held on December 17, 2020, at the Valentine Theater in Toledo. Tickets for the event were sold online, and at home sampling kits were put together by theater employees. The week of the event, ticket holders stopped by and picked up their kit. Each included six beers to taste, a Great Lakes tasting mat, an “out of the freezer” suggested food pairing, cups, a pint glass, and a bottle opener. During the Zoom event items of discussion were, anything and everything about beer, Great Lakes Brewery, Heidelberg Distributing, local bars, and history of the Valentine theater, which opened in 1895! Special thanks to On-Premise Beer DM Stevie Hossler, Heidelberg Wine Rep Brian Shaffer and Ryan from Great Lakes Brewing.

“ZOOM-ING THROUGH BEER” BILLBOARD IN TOLEDO ANNOUNCING THE
GREAT LAKES HEIDELBERG TOLEDO EVENT FROM THE VALENTINE THEATRE.

TOLEDO WINE SALES PRO BRIAN SHAFFER SETTING UP FOR
“ZOOM-ING THROUGH BEER” WITH GREAT LAKES BREWERY.

YOUNGSTOWN

TEAM YOUNGSTOWN MODELING OFF THEIR WAREHOUSE APPRECIATION PULLOVERS.

BACKSIDE OF TEAM YOUNGSTOWN WAREHOUSE APPRECIATION PULLOVERS.

COLUMBUS

→ Chris Turner is Heidelberg Columbus’ new Graphic Designer. He was born in Dayton, Ohio and is a 2020 graduate of Ohio University, with a B.S. in visual communication. Chris recently worked in graphics at Wright Patterson Air Force Base with the public affairs department. Prior to that he worked with National Geographic as a maps and graphics intern. He is excited to bring his graphic talents to the Heidelberg family!

SOME OF THE COLUMBUS SALES FORCE AND THEIR FAMILIES
SPENT A FUN VALENTINE’S DAY PLAYING ICE HOCKEY.

→ Justin Moore and Blake Reynolds were both promoted from merchandisers to wine sales professionals in January. Congratulations to both!

JUSTIN MOORE

BLAKE REYNOLDS

→ Christian Vail has been promoted from sales pro to the new position as shelf set planogram specialist for Heidelberg Columbus. He is a graduate of Bluffton University where he majored in Early Childhood Education and played baseball. Christian lives in Columbus with his fiancé Abby and their Goldendoodle Fletcher.

CHRISTIAN VAIL

CLEVELAND

→ Heidelberg Cleveland is pleased to announce the promotion of Kevin Fair to Field Sales Manager. In his new role, he will oversee all areas of selling through the district managers and sales professionals to ensure sales goals are met and effectively manage district managers and sales personnel.

WINE TRENDS

→ Wine Trends had a successful launch of Familia Torres portfolio of Spanish wines in January. The Torres family has products represented by Wine Trends on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to Famila Torres, Wine Trends also represents Marimar Estate, from the Russian River Valley, owned by Marimar Torres. Familia Torres was previously sold by the HDC sales teams.

→ In February, Wine Trends kicked off sales of Tenuta di Capezzana, one of Tuscany’s more historic estates.

→ In February Wine Trends launched Commanderie de Peyrassol, one of the biggest names in Provence. They are best known for their top quality Rose wines. Over the last 700 years the property has only seen three owners. We were joined by the family and sales director live from France to launch the brand over Zoom.

→ In March, Wine Trends have one of our most anticipated new releases of 2021, Decoy Seltzers. There are huge expectations for these premium wine-bases seltzers!

COMING SOON TO A RETAILER NEAR YOU!
WINE-BASED DECOY SELTZER IN FOUR TASTY FLAVORS.

→ In the Cleveland market, Lauren Fuseck was promoted to Sales Professional.

→ Heidelberg Spirits Manager Ashley Cowans collaborated with Wine Trends Director of Marketing Dan Rapata to create ‘Distilled’ the Spirits Newsletter. The first issue went out to customers in February. The newsletter features monthly updates on the Spirits Marketing portfolio, cocktail recipes, and pricing updates.

DAYTON

→ The Dayton AB team won Anheuser-Busch’s elite Ambassadors of Excellence Gold award for the third consecutive year (2018, 2019, 2020). We are now one out of 18 of more than 500 AB wholesalers nationally who have accomplished this feat. It could not have been accomplished without all pieces of the Heidelberg wheel working together.

→ Employee Spotlights for February were Allied Wine Sales Pro Rebecca Zucker, and Admin Assistant, Corp Customer Service Trainer Gina Benton.

→ Congratulations to Wine Sales Pro Stephanie Eifert who has been promoted to District Sales Manager within our Allied Wine Division.

→ Dayton Heidelberg held a Super Bowl contest to guess the winner, point total and MVP for the game. Winners (a four-way tie) won prizes from Bud Light. Winners included: Dan Albrecht, Lance Mooney, Ryan Moore and Holly Fritts.

LORAIN

→ Lorain Wine GSM Rick Brown wanted to share this AWESOME display with everyone. Great teamwork by Sales Pros Todd Fannin and Adam Freeman! This is what surveying the store and looking for opportunities really means. With salad bars not being utilized, their presentation made use of all space available!

WHEN YOU CAN’T SET UP THE SALAD BAR, MAKE IT A DRINK BAR INSTEAD!

→ Lorain’s day warehouse team and admin staff were generously treated to lunch by Sales Pro Connie Grosscup. She was thanking the teams for supporting her sales success during 2020. The January 15 lunch came at a perfect time heading into the Browns big playoff weekend. Wings and mac and cheese were the perfect Dawg Pound food!

DAY RECEIVER CHUCK CONNEY, SWING DRIVER DARREN HARTLEY
(L & R, FRONT TABLE), TRANSFER DRIVER LANCE MORGAN AND
DAY WAREHOUSE ASSOCIATE AMY ZIMMERMAN (L & R, BACK TABLE)
ENJOY THEIR “GO BROWNS” LUNCH THANKS TO
SALES PROFESSIONAL CONNIE GROSSCUP.

TO MAKE SURE THE DRIVER’S DIDN’T MISS OUT ON THE FUN,
LORAIN SENT THEM OUT WITH GOODIE BAGS FEATURING
“ORANGE AND BROWN” SNACKS FOR ALL TO ENJOY!

CHOCOLATE AND WINE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!
WINE FOR YOUR SWEETHEART COURTESY OF
DM STACY GOCKSTETTER AND HER TEAM.

NOTHING SAYS WE’RE WISHING FOR WARMER WEATHER THAN A MARGARITA.
THIS CUERVO DISPLAY WITH GIANT COCKTAIL IS FROM DM VAL THAYER
AND HER TEAM.

SALES PRO KRIS GOCHNAUER AT BUEHLERS MILLTOWN IN WOOSTER
WITH ANOTHER GREAT DISPLAY IN THE LORAIN MARKET FEATURING
CELSIUS LIVE FIT.

OHIO VALLEY

→ Ohio Valley celebrated “Warehouse Appreciation Week” January 18-21. Associates were provided food from Buffalo Wild Wings and Subway amongst other events.

WAREHOUSE ASSOCIATES PAUL WILHELM (L) AND JAMAL BOOTS (R)
POSE IN FRONT OF THE WAREHOUSE APPRECIATION WEEK BANNER
IN THEIR NEW PULLOVERS.