VIBE Conference kicked off today at the beautiful Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. Even the overcast weather couldn’t put a damper on the day, as top beverage executives gathered in person again– many of them reunited for the first time since COVID-19.
Group President of Travel & Hospitality at Questex, Alexi Khajavi, officially opened the ceremony, before passing the microphone over to Emcee Charlotte Voisey, Global Head of Brand Ambassador Advocacy for William Grant & Sons. We heard from our charity partner, CORE: Children of Restaurant Employees, who raised over $3.1 million last year for F&B families, before taking time to recognize outstanding leadership in our industry.
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This year, the VIBE Legend Award was renamed the Jim Flaherty Award, after James “Jim” Flaherty, who passed away in January. His daughter, Erin, and Donna Fredrick took the stage to remember Jim and comment on Jim’s storied, 41-year career. Scott Hempstead of Boston Beer Company was the first recipient of the new award. This year’s VIBE Innovator Award was awarded to Bruce Skala, Senior Vice President of Marketing, HOA Brands, who was recognized for his storytelling through social media. VIBE Conference Event Director, Laddie Weiss, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and touching video tribute from his colleagues throughout the years. Find out more about our VIBE Award winners here.
It was a full day of conference programing, starting with Brandy Rand, COO, Americas at IWSR-Global. Her session, “The Road to Recovery: 5 Factors for Future Growth in Beverage Alcohol” touched on the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, and how consumer behavior has changed over the past year. She broke down five key factors for future growth in BevAlc industry, including at-home consumption, digital demand, premiumization, convenience and health & wellness. And of course, the rise of the RTD.
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Donna Hood Crecca and David Henkes, senior principals at Technomic, then took the stage for their session, “Now & Next: Reinventing the On-Premise Drinks Business”. According to their research, the ways in which the consumer engages with bars and restaurants has changed. Going out is more of a special occasion than ever before, and standards are high.
To meet their expectations, venues have to provide a phenomenal product. Kathy Casey, of Liquid Kitchen, and Maeve Webster of Menu Matters, discussed how operators can cater to those expectations, and the latest industry trends. The two also discussed value propositions operators can offer their consumers, like high quality cocktail mixers available to go.
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Elizabeth DeConti of Gray Robinson had a fascinating session entitled “Legal Issues in the Post-Covid World”, which focused on to-go alcohol programs and tied-house laws. She was followed by two panels, “Doing More with Less in the “New Now” (moderated by Ken Ruff of Beam Suntory) and “The Style Trends That Will Drive the Future of Hospitality (moderated by Ken Taylor of MarkeTeam Inc.) IMI Agency went through their ‘SMART’ method of choosing appropriate technology for on-premises. The day’s conference program ended with a statistics heavy report by David Portalatin of NPD, “The Return of the Experience”, which outlined consumer spending habits and how they relate to the on-premise.
In between conference sessions, attendees were invited to network in the foyer, and enjoy a selection of refreshments from our sponsors. Liquid Death water and DaVinci Gourmet kept attendees hydrated, while the Nespresso café everyone them caffeinated, thanks to their new barista-level coffee machines.
After the conference day was done, attendees made their way over to the CORE happy hour benefit for an evening of creative refreshments, courtesy of our sponsors.
VIBE Conference continues tomorrow, with more networking and educational opportunities. Be sure to follow our Instagram account to see highlights in real time.
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