In this roundtable discussion, a panel including craft brewery veterans, restaurant chain national buyers, and a BeerBoard data authority discuss the current world of on-premise national accounts. Panelists consider questions such as:

• What are national on-premise buyers looking for? How are they making decisions? How far out are they planning?
• What tools does a brewery need access to if they’d like to play in this world?
• How do corporate and franchise relationships affect a regional brewery’s access to buyers?

These and other questions have made this segment a bit of a “big bad wolf” to local and regional breweries across the country. This open and honest discussion seeks to demystify the process and help brewery salespeople and owners understand what’s needed to navigate this channel.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the chain restaurant buyer’s mindset and what’s important to them
• Discuss roadblocks breweries can expect to run into and suggestions on how to move past them
• Gain tools needed to work within the chain restaurant landscape
• Break down data from BeerBoard to understand where trends are heading and how that affects buyers’ decisions

About the Speakers

Greg Owens, Director of National Accounts, On-Premise

Deschutes Brewery

Greg Owens (he/him) is a 17-year craft beer industry veteran. He's worked on the national accounts side for 11 years for various suppliers. Greg has been with Deschutes Brewery and Boneyard Beer for the past three years and is currently their Director of National Accounts, On-Premise.

Mary Russell, Chain Account Manager, On-Premise

New Belgium Brewing & Bell's Brewery

As a part of the on-premise chain account team at New Belgium Brewing, Mary Russell's (she/her) goal is to find the best way to maximize beverage accessibility and growth for her partners. Mary has been in the beverage industry for over 10 years and has worked in all three tiers. She possesses a well-rounded perspective on the opportunities and challenges each tier faces and aims to position herself as a highly engaged and collaborative stakeholder with every partner.

Matt Poffel, Director of Beerology

SPB Hospitality - Old Chicago

Matt Poffel (he/him) is the director of beerology at SPB Hospitality. He has been a multi-unit beer buyer at Old Chicago for seven years and is a 30-year craft beer geek.

John Boyle, Senior Vice President, Business Development

BeerBoard

John Boyle (he/him), senior vice president of business development at BeerBoard, managed the development of BeerBoard's On-Premise Insights Platform which helps suppliers become better partners with their on-premise retailers. BeerBoard manages over one billion dollars in annual draught insights alone using BeerBoard's proprietary platform in national, regional, and independent retailers across the country such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Twin Peaks, Winking Lizard, and Hickory Tavern. BeerBoard provides real-time insights by brand, style, and category for draught and packaged beer, wine, and spirits so that craft beer suppliers know not only how their products compare to other brands and styles but also how their sales can best drive success in the total bar management plans with their retailer partners. John was recently a featured presenter at the 2023 Winking Lizard Annual Summit.