Managing Director of Research
Beverage Marketing Corporation

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.

Mr. Hemphill has more than 25 years experience in the beverage industry. Previously, he served as editor of the trade publication Beverage Industry and he also directed new product publicity for the Pepsi-Cola Company where he contributed to a range of assignments. Previous to those positions, Mr. Hemphill held various newspaper writing and editing positions.

Mr. Hemphill is widely quoted in the press and has often been interviewed on both TV and radio on issues of critical importance to the beverage industry. He has spoken at a range of conferences, conventions and industry events including InterBev, the Beverage Forum, the NAMA (vending) trade show, the FMI convention, World Juice, the International Dairy Show and many others.

Mr. Hemphill holds a bachelors degree in journalism from The Ohio State University and resides in New York City.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Beverage Marketing Corporation

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.

Managing Partner
Beverage Marketing Corporation

Brian Sudano is Managing Partner of Beverage Marketing Corporation. Mr. Sudano’s experience covers nearly the entire beverage industry, from energy drinks to wine, with special expertise in key strategic issues by virtue of varied industry experience and broad range of projects. Mr. Sudano manages several major clients, providing on-going strategic and market advise, while leading projects in strategic planning, market entry analysis and planning, sales/distribution, business modeling, brand repositioning and international opportunity assessment. Mr. Sudano is regularly quoted in leading global business publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Forbs and The Economist. He has spoken at many beverage industry events, and is a contributing editor at Beverage World magazine.

Before joining, BMC, Mr. Sudano was with Constellation Brands, a leading US beverage alcohol company, where he held the position of VP Business Processes responsible for creating and managing a corporate operations function chartered to bring best practices across Constellation’s global wine, spirits and beer businesses. While in this role, Sudano lead the due diligence and transition efforts for entering the premium wine business and provided corporate oversight for the integration and transition of the Black Velvet distillery and brands. Other activities also included oversight of business risk management and covering issues such as promotional effectiveness to performance metrics, beer logistics optimization, portfolio optimization and succession planning, among other activities.

Prior to Constellation Brands, Mr. Sudano was with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons for 10 years. At Seagram, he held various positions including leading efforts in business development, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, and finance. Mr. Sudano identified and negotiated several strategic alliances and business transactions resulting in significantly improved business performance. Sudano lead Seagram’s entry into beer business, organizational realignments and business integration and expansion strategies. Within Finance, he held several positions including CFO for a business unit.

Mr. Sudano received an MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management, a magna cum laude and honors graduate from Delaware Valley College receiving a BS and a New Jersey CPA.

Consulting Analyst
Beverage Marketing Corporation

Nathan Greene is a Consulting Analyst with Beverage Marketing Corporation based in New York. His work has included strategy, market research, and due diligence for clients large & small across the beverage industry. Nathan’s area of focus and expertise is the Beverage Alcohol market, with particular focus on the ever changing Craft Beer Market, which he has built a passion for as both an analyst and consumer. Nathan is graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute holding a B.S. in Industrial & Management Engineering with concentrations in Operations, Marketing, & Finance.

Director of Alcohol Research
Beverage Marketing Corporation

Carolyn Lemoine is Director of Alcohol Research at Beverage Marketing Corporation, the leading supplier of research, consulting, and financial services to the global beverage industry. She is responsible for leading the company’s extensive alcohol research division through market reporting and directories that span the dynamic and evolving alcohol beverage categories.

Previous to joining the Research Division, Ms. Lemoine was a part of BMC’s Strategic Consulting Group, managing and supporting consulting projects for major corporate beverage clients. She still supports the Consulting part of the business allowing for a holistic view to her research.

Ms. Lemoine has extensive experience in macro/micro market analysis, trend identification, shopper/consumer insights and competitive evaluations, as well as in-depth understanding of key operational/marketing/consumer aspects pertaining to the beverage marketplace.

Ms. Lemoine has over 15 years of beverage industry experience across strategy, category management, marketing and planning roles with blue chip companies such as Diageo and PepsiCo, including extensive international experience across European markets. She holds a B.A. degree from Arizona State University and an M.B.A. in marketing from Loyola Marymount University.