Consumer preferences and buying behaviors in the alcoholic beverage space are changing faster than you can pour a pint and say ‘cheers.’ So, how do companies keep up? Erin Engels, Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy, is helping lead those efforts with Breakthru Beverage Group. Breakthru is a leading North American beverage wholesaler, meaning they help thousands of brands land on store shelves, on restaurant menus and on the tap list at your favorite bars. In her role, Engels leads the development and implementation of Breakthru’s commercial strategy. She creates short- and long-term initiatives that support both innovation and growth. In this episode, Engels shares how Breakthru stays nimble in the face of changing consumer demand, how a special team at her company identifies the next big brands, plus how you can gain employee and executive buy-in for effective long-term strategy.



Table of contents

• 1:15 Adapting to consumers drinking less

• 4:20 Identifying winning brands and the Trident team

• 5:59 What to do if a brand flops

• 9:06 Developing effective long-term strategies

• 12:23 Bringing an engineering background to business

• 17:09 How AI is being used in the beverage space

• 18:27 Doing business internationally

• 19:21 "Be curious"