Michael C. Bellas is founder, Chairman and CEO of Beverage Marketing Corporation, a strategic consulting and research firm specializing in the worldwide beverage industry. Mr. Bellas has been a leading spokesman, consultant, writer, editor and speaker in the beverage community for more than 35 years. He is co-founder, co-sponsor and opening-day speaker of the most significant industry conference of recent years, The Beverage Forum. He is quoted regularly and frequently in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times to Fortune, Forbes, Business Week and other major publications worldwide. He has also appeared on numerous television programs including 48 Hours, Moneyline, Good Morning America, Money Talks, Fox News, Power Lunch, Market Wrap, This Morning’s Business, CNN, BBC, Financial News Network, CBS Early Morning Show and CNBC. Mr. Bellas has provided strategic and market planning counsel to most of the leading beverage companies in each of the key beverage segments. He has led numerous client engagements involving new growth strategies, market entry planning, brand development/revitalization, domestic and international marketplace assessments and sales/distribution strategy development. He has written numerous articles on the multiple-beverage marketplace and has addressed several national and international trade organizations including the World Beer and Drinks Forum, the International Bottled Water Association, the Capital Roundtable, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the International Fruit Beverage Congress, the International Beverage Industry Exposition (InterBev), the Global Bottled Water Congress and the Dairy Food Industry Supply Association. Mr. Bellas was born into the beverage industry: his family established and still operates two multi-beverage distributorships in Ohio. A graduate of Yale University, he holds the Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia University, where he was a McKinsey Scholar.

Gary A. Hemphill is Managing Director of Research at Beverage Marketing Corporation. In that role, he directs the company’s extensive information products and services, consisting of comprehensive North American beverage databases, Market Reports, Directories, State Tracking Services and customized information consulting projects. Mr. Hemphill has worked to develop and manage two beverage databases: DrinkTell, the only comprehensive U.S. beverage database; and the All-Channel Database, the only detailed channel analysis beverage database. In addition, he has created and maintained proprietary beverage industry information systems for clients in the U.S. and Canada -- helping to provide clients with the overall insights they need to make their strategic, planning and marketing decisions that are critical to their success. Beverage Marketing publishes more than 30 industry-standard Market Reports and directories that cover the multiple beverage markets. The company’s wide range of respected U.S. reports cover soft drinks, bottled water, milk, beer, fruit beverages, New Age and functional beverages, wine, spirits, beverage packaging and more. In addition, the company publishes a select group of international reports targeting key growth markets. He has also worked to create a Canadian bottled water tracking service.