The Tasting Panel magazine

10 / the tasting panel / september 2009 Industry Spotlight The BevBlitz Solution W hen three top Cali- fornia-based wine and spirits sales reps got laid off this past year, they turned to each other for an idea that would be a boon to an industry that needed help. Tom Adams, formerly with Young's Market and more recent- ly with St. Supéry winery, had an idea brewing for a while. "I had seen a crack in the sys- tem for up-and-coming winer- ies, where they cannot afford a 50-week salaried (and insurance- heavy) employee. I also saw a gap for wine or spirit compa- nies that wanted to expand into markets across the country but couldn't come up with the man- (or woman-) power to support a full-time sales team." Three weeks after his lay-off, Adams received a call from his friend George Ronay. "I thought he was calling to offer me a job," says Adams, who once had been in Ronay's employ. Instead, Ronay confessed that he had also just been laid off (from Heck Estates). Adams presented the idea of creating a customized, time-controlled sales blitz team for companies who couldn't afford—or didn't especially need—a full- bore sales strategy all year long. The two contacted John King, who had just been laid off from Rémy. "The idea of a tempo- rary sales agency fi lls a void that the industry truly needs, especially now," says King. BevBlitz was created, a customized on-de- mand, structured-time marketing and sales support service. "We work with the distribu- tor and the supplier," Ronay points out. "We have a tag line: You can lay off your sales force, but not the 50,000 cases of Chardonnay sitting in the warehouse." With outsourcing as a com- mon practice in every fi eld, BevBlitz, according to Adams, "patches up the cracks in the industry." Selling their services in incre- ments of time (four persons for a one week sales blitz, one person for four weeks or anywhere in between) the experienced and connected BevBlitz reps provide exclusive ins for the brands that contract them for these periods. "We pull the corks, tell the sto- ry and follow up with reports," notes Adams. "These extensive layoffs were knee jerk reactions to under earnings. BevBlitz can come to the rescue and tap into a wealth of talent to work the U.S. market." For more info, go to www.BevBlitz.com. Two Great Events, Two Great Causes THE TASTING PANEL sponsors two exciting wine and food events T he 12th annual Extravaganza for the Senses was presented by the The Wine House and benefi ted the Saban Free Clinic. This popular event took place under the stars on the back lot of 20th Century Fox studios. Fifteen- hundred guests enjoyed wine and food from more than 75 wineries and 35 restaurants, all while raising money for high-quality free medical care for the uninsured and working poor. The following week, some of Los Angeles's most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs, plus a selection of Double Gold–winning wines and spirits from the San Francisco Interna- tional Wine and World Spirits Com- petitions, were on hand for Angeleno magazine's Chef's Night Out at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica. Angeleno's food critic Brad A. Johnson and THE TASTING PANEL's Editor-in-Chief, Anthony Dias Blue, honored L.A. chefs Josiah Citrin, Walter Manzke, Bruce Marder, Joachim Splichal, Adrian Vasquez, Suzanne Tracht and others. Five-hun- dred guests sipped the award-winning wines and spirits and dined on dishes created by some of L.A.'s best restau- rants: BLT Steak, Comme Ça, Craft, Cut, Fig, Katana, Nine Thirty, Pizza Ortica, Rustic Canyon, Sona, Spago, Street and Westside Tavern. The event benefi ted Children's Institute, which helps children who have been trau- matized by violence in their homes or communities. —Allison Levine John King, Tom Adams and George Ronay of BevBlitz. The Sona team at Chef's Night Out. PHOTO: ERIK NELDNER

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