In this seminar, Colin Schilling and Mark Kornei present the founding story of Schilling Cider as a case study in growth. In just over 10 years, Schilling Cider has grown to become the nation’s largest producer of fresh-pressed hard cider and is now a top 20 craft and cider brand family in the nation. The presentation breaks down the growth story into six categories the founders felt were key drivers and provide many examples of what worked and what didn’t in each. The goal of the presentation is to give craft producers aiming to scale up ideas and tools to accomplish that goal in a rapidly changing market place.

Learning Objectives

• Gain ideas and tools to organically scale a craft beverage company
• Learn more about craft cider and spark ideas on working together to grow craft beverages
• Explore how to build a people-first company culture
• Discuss ways to be more sustainable and connect that work to your consumers

About the Speakers

Mark Kornei, CFO & Co-Founder

Schilling Cider

Mark Kornei (he/him) is the CFO and co-founder of Schilling Cider in Auburn, Washington. Schilling is the largest fresh-pressed cidery in the nation and continues to grow at an accelerated rate. Mark's extensive experience in packaging has helped lead Schilling to be a leader in the space with advanced automation and high speed equipment. Through Schilling's growth, Mark and his co-founder, Colin, continue to push to be an example of good business and a force of change in the industry. The company focuses on sustainability, simplicity, and a people-first culture.

Colin Schilling, CEO

Schilling Cider

Colin Schilling (he/him) is the CEO and co-founder of Schilling Cider, the most innovative, fastest-growing, and forward-thinking hard cider company in the country which operates the nation's largest fresh-pressed cidery. Colin's unrivaled expertise and unwavering commitment to excellence have revolutionized the cider landscape. In addition to cider, Colin has a passion for food and beverage broadly and has created and consulted on brands in the non-alcohol, coffee, energy, and cannabis spaces. He has a Master of Business Administration focused in entrepreneurship and business sustainability and worked in tech consulting prior to founding the cider company. In addition to the wholesale business, Schilling Cider operates two retail locations in Seattle and Portland, Oregon which are the largest cider taprooms in the world by draft cider offerings! Colin strongly believes business is a force for good and change and has integrated numerous sustainable practices into the core business. He is also an industry thought leader on people-first company culture and works to deliver a best-in-class employment experience for every employee.