Blackheath Beverage Group Launches With New Sales And Marketing Model For 1st Tier In The Wine & Spirits Industry

NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackheath Beverage Group (BBG) announces its official launch today, providing alcohol suppliers and brand owners a first-of-its-kind sales and marketing platform designed to reduce costs and provide more aggressive national representation. An alternative to direct and full-service importer models, BBG strategically aligns and partners with brands that become part of exclusive portfolios.  Suppliers share significant resources between a concentrated number of brands including a national sales infrastructure that manages all sales and distribution, compliance and logistics, and full service through-the-line marketing.  In addition, unlike the full service importer model, BBG does not apply a traditional intermediary margin which allows brand owners to maintain higher gross profits and utilize those resources elsewhere throughout the brand building process.

Recognizing a void and fundamental challenge within the industry's current models, BBG has built this unique structure within a collaborative culture that focuses on leveraging these shared resources and relationships within portfolios.  The sales and marketing teams within BBG are comprised of some of the highest level and highest regarded industry professionals who are committed to providing and representing brands with the utmost integrity.  Strategically combining or "marrying" brands (similar to that of a full-service importer) eliminates the need for brands to incur the burden of employing and managing a national sales team or relinquishing valuable gross profit dollars to the middle-men.  The collective industry experience within BBG's senior management team saves dollars, time and resources by diminishing the mistakes that brands often make.

BBG's infrastructure and platform provides and manages all aspects of:

• A National Sales Infrastructure focused on overseeing all distributor management, local sales activity and planning, pricing, programming and brand management;
• Compliance Management to manage compliance closely and act as liaison to importing and logistics specialists;
• Metrics Reporting and Data Collection to properly evaluate and gage return on investment as well as key performance indicators by region, market and account;
• Brand Architecture to manage creative and individualized brand messaging from inception to execution;
• Full Service Brand Marketing to seamlessly integrate brand architecture and consumer messaging within all commercial aspects of the business.

"There is a glaring need for a more efficient and cost-effective route to market option within the supplier tier of the U.S. beverage industry," said Jay Harkins, CEO of Blackheath Beverage Group. "Blackheath Beverage Group aims to offer brands and brand owners a better model that is more affordable and more effective. While national importers provide an infrastructure to a plethora of brands, BBG provides the same, if not better, infrastructure to a carefully selected and very focused amount of brands, therefore providing much greater bandwidth at significantly less cost." 

Blackheath Beverage Group is led by a team of experienced spirits industry executives. Founder and CEO Jay Harkins is a 13-year industry veteran who, at Domaine Select Wine Estates, drove the US business for brands such as Whistle Pig Rye, Averna Amaro and Barsol Pisco, among others.  Jay was instrumental in tripling the sales of Wodka Vodka in less than 18 months to bring the brand to over 100,000 projected cases in 2012.  Previously, Harkins held positions with Southern Wine and Spirits, E&J Gallo, Mystique Brands and Cognac Ferrand.

Chief Operating Officer Michael Farbenblum, J.D., LL.M., is a highly experienced professional in mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions, and hedge and private equity funds. He is a director and officer of numerous Farbenblum family portfolio companies and also serves as BBG's legal consultation.   

Stephanie Kubacki, Vice President of Marketing, has extensive experience leading marketing initiatives for Bacardi Canada and Diageo Spirits California.  She most recently worked for Palm Bay Spirits where she drove marketing for such brands as Skinnygirl Margarita, Aperol, Voli Vodka and 901 Tequila. 

ABOUT BLACKHEATH BEVERAGE GROUP:

Blackheath Beverage Group (BBG) is a full service beverage sales and marketing company that offers a turn-key solution to spirits brands at a fraction of the cost of direct sales and with greater focus and coverage than traditional direct or full service importer models. Blackheath Beverage Group's expertise in sales, marketing and through-the-line execution provides suppliers and brand owners with a forward-thinking and cost-effective alternative that generates greater distribution traction and tangible results than any other model today. For more information, please visit http://www.bhbeverage.com/.

SOURCE Blackheath Beverage Group

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