IN THIS ISSUE:
Page 2 Executive Corner| Page 2 Drink Corner | Page 3 X- Pfeil| Page 3 Social Media
Page 4 Zonin Donates| Page 4 Social Responsibility| Page 4 Above & Beyond|
Page 5 Human Resources| Pages 6-9 Success Stories | Pages 10-11 Around the State|
Page 12 Corporate News
2nd Quarter 2013
QUARTERLY MIXER
A NOTE FROM BOB
How we communicate with
each other has drastically
changed. Just think, 20
years ago cell phones were
large contraptions you
carried around in a bag, 10
years ago Facebook didn’t
exist, and 5 years ago smartphones were just catching
on. New media has come
to define the communication landscape and forever
changed the way people, companies, and brands interact
with one another. What was once considered a passing
fad, has now become a must have capability in most every
company, including Premier Beverage.
Social Media
Social is another tool we can add to our capabilities to set
ourselves apart from the competition which is why we
have invested in the resources to launch @premierbevFL.
You can learn more about Allison, social media specialist,
and our social strategy in this issue of the Quarterly Mixer.
When it comes to being social, content and engagement
are what it’s all about. This is a company-wide initiative
and you can all take an active role in our social success.
More information to come in the following weeks and
remember, #staysocialmyfriends.
EXECUTIVE
CORNER
David Anderson| Vice President of Capabilities
In college, David Anderson spent
a few years working for Walgreens, which opened his eyes
to the wine and spirits business.
Soon after graduation he started
working with Premier Beverage,
and this year Dave is celebrating
his 34th anniversary.
For the last three years, Dave
has held the title of Vice President of Capabilities. Florida has been the test market
and leader for the new Goal Model initiatives, and he
has been tasked with implementing them. Throughout
this process, Dave has had to develop enhancements for
GTM by employing new goals and positions, like Account
Development Specialists, Hotel Catering Executives,
Noble, Retail Chain Sales reps and Retail Wine ADS. He
is also responsible for the statewide Capabilities Assessment and assists other CSG houses a few times a year
with this.
Dave works closely with many different aspects of our
company, including the Business Managers, General
Sales Managers, Suppliers and Human Resources. With
the Business Managers he conducts workshops, training
sessions, writes goals, and allocates goals for the suppliers. Dave also works with the General Sales Managers
and Division Managers where he helps to educate and
manage their goals as well as conduct field work-withs.
He also works very closely with the suppliers for goal
writing, recaps and GTM process.
Human Resources is a very important division for capabilities. Dave works with them to help manage performance
for the goal model, develop action plans for accountability, create developmental plans and roll out new
initiatives, such as the compensation model, the Alliance
Transformation Initiative (ATI) and Mobility.
Community relations is important to Dave, as he is
involved in multiple charities including St. Vincent’s Hospital, Woldson’s Children Hospital and the Child Cancer
Fund. In his personal time, he enjoys golfing at Jacksonville Golf and Country Club, fishing and spending time
with his family.
Throughout his 34 years, Dave has seen many changes
within the industry, had some wonderful experiences,
and made lifelong friends.
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Drink Corner
BISCHOFLICHE WEINGUTER
—— TRIER ——
PAIRING
SPICY & RAW Sushi, sashimi, Thai
noodle dishes. The slight sweetness balances the spice of the
dishes.
STYLE
The wines are clean, elegant and
beautiful. Mineral, white peach,
apricots and white flowers show
through and there is a fabulously
long finish — outstanding!
SPIRITS WITH SOUL
The words are stamped
on every bottle of Salute.
What does it mean
exactly? It is their mission of helping American
Veterans transition from
military to civilian life. To
accomplish this, they are
donating $1 of every bottle sold to fund specific
projects benefiting our
servicemen and women.
And not just when they
have excess profits. It’s
$1 for every bottle sold...
forever.
THE
X-PFEIL
Eric Pfeil| Executive Vice President
Meet Allison Lee
Q&A with Premier’s
Social Media Specialist
Q: How do you plan to incorporate social media into Premier
Beverage?
A: Social media is a valuable
resource that can open the
door to many great opportunities. Integrating social media
into Premier Beverage will allow
us to actively engage with an online audience with over
millions of users and provide valuable information to
our community. Communicating in real-time and building relationships with our fans and followers will set us
apart and showcase what our company has to offer.
Q: What are the benefits of social media?
A: There are so many benefits of using social media, but
it is important that companies evaluate their success
metrics before implementing any kind of social program.
Social media can increase your brand awareness, allow
you to engage with your community, showcase your
product or service, and even allow you to learn about
your customers. Social networks are powerful tools that
can take a company’s marketing techniques, reputation,
and voice in the community to another level.
Q: How will Premier’s social media positively impact
our suppliers & brands?
A: Premier’s social media presence will positively impact
our suppliers and brands because it will allow us to
add value to our core offering. Social media is all about
amplifying a message and positioning yourself as an
industry leader. Our social strategy will be aligned with
our internal sales goals as well as with our suppliers’ and
customers’ initiatives.
Q: What are some of Premier’s social media goals?
A: As we cultivate our social media strategy, we want
to make sure that we are providing value to our community, not just promoting ourselves. “Being social” is
not the same as “being effective.” Providing effective
content will result in an engaging audience that interacts with our brand in a meaningful way. Our goals are
simple – create, connect, engage, and listen.
Well, here we are in the
heat of the summer,
and things are looking
very positive in Florida.
The tourism is back, the
unemployment rate is at
its lowest in 6 years and
the Heat just won their
second consecutive NBA
Championship!!! These are all very positive signs that
the Beverage Alcohol business is going to continue to
grow, and Premier Beverage is well suited to build on
this opportunity.
We have all worked very hard on growing the brands
we have today as well as the relationships throughout
the marketplace, be it from our Customer Service
teams, our Finance teams, our Operations teams and
very clearly our Sales teams. Because of this hard
work and dedication, Proximo has rewarded Premier
with the rights to sell Jose Cuervo. Now the responsibility falls on all of us; the responsibility to go into our
Accounts and build a brand that has been somewhat
neglected by our competition and grow it into the
stellar brand it once was. With the assistance of the
Proximo Sales & Marketing teams, their clever new
advertising and equity of brand name, Jose Cuervo,
we will do just that.
Think about it: We are very proud to say that we carry the #1 rum in Florida with Bacardi, the #1 scotch in
Florida with Dewar’s, the #1 whiskey in Florida with
Jack Daniels and now the #1 tequila in Florida with
Jose Cuervo. We also sell other great, iconic wine
brands, including the #1 premium restaurant wine in
Florida with Kendall-Jackson, the #1 sparkling wine
in Florida with Korbel and the largest winery in the
world, the E & J Gallo Winery. Premier Beverage is
definitely living up to its name “Premier” and with
this very formidable portfolio. As the economy continues to thrive in Florida, we need to walk proudly
into each and every account we have today, and even
those we don’t, and gain the support of our customers through back bars, wine lists, shelf positioning,
display locations and ad share.
We are Premier Beverage!!!
Let’s ride this great wave. Good Luck and Keep
Selling!!!
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ZONIN
DONATES
To help support Breast Cancer Research
Premier Beverage and
Casa Vinicola Zonin USA,
the largest privately
owned Italian winery,
partnered in Florida to
donate over 100K to the
American Cancer Society
(ACS). On Friday March
22, Steve Howard- National Sales Director of Zonin, presented the check
during the ACS’s Cattle Baron’s Ball 2013 in Tampa, FL.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished in our first
year and look forward to many more years. Our goal
is to raise over a million dollars in five years. This is a
promise that I made to my parents and this is a son who
is keeping his promise.” said Steve Howard.
In 2012, Zonin initiated their annual breast cancer awareness efforts. For every bottle of Zonin Sparkling Rosé sold
in the United States, $1 was donated towards the ACS
to support breast cancer research. In addition, many of
Zonin’s distribution partners, such as Premier Beverage,
donated $5 from every case of Zonin Sparkling Rosé sold.
Social Responsibility
New! Online Event Donation Form
Premier Beverage is known around the state as a
charitable company and we pride ourselves on being a
leader in giving back to the communities where we live,
work, and do business. We support a variety of organizations through volunteering, in-kind partnerships,
financial support, and board leadership. Because of our
identity as a community partner, we receive numerous
requests to expand our giving each year. In order to
streamline the request and giving process, to speed response time, and to ensure we are supporting organizations that align with our corporate objectives, we have
developed an online event donation form.
Anyone requesting corporate giving from Premier is
now directed to the form on our website which can be
found under the Community Relations tab. Once the
form is filled out and submitted, it is then sent (based
on geographic location) to either Katie Leibick or Deborah Key who review and follow-up with the requestor
letting them know the status of their inquiry. We are
excited to add this tool to our Public Relations Department and enhance our method of corporate giving.
4
Above & Beyond
A Tribute to Frank Soares
One of the things that has come to define the Miramar
operations department is their “can-do” attitude that
was implemented by Frank Soares. There is a commitment to get it done. For those of you who may not have
had the chance to meet Frank, he was the Operations
Manager in Miramar who tragically and suddenly passed
away on May 25th.
Since Frank’s passing, there have been countless Saturday mornings that our staff would stop what they’re
doing and get to the warehouse to help with an emergency. Ten cases of Voss to the Tides Hotel, a thirty case
order for S3 for their opening week, an event order for
Pridefest with a temporary block not processing, four
cases for a wine dinner that were overlooked. Whatever
the reason, there was no blame, no complaining, they
just made it happen. There was a large amount of teamwork required, whether it was Freddy Concepcion and
Bob Hafter pulling an order late Friday night or Carlos
McLiberty meeting the sales rep early on a Saturday
morning. Or it was Rick Thoni, Gordon MacLachlan or
Peter Fisicaro pulling orders by themselves to meet sales
reps or in some cases actually making the deliveries
themselves. Then there is Walter Castillo, who worked
to accommodate late vias or emergencies during the
night shift, without missing a beat.
Mark Schuetz recalls the morning he learned of Frank’s
passing. “I was actually out of the country with no cell
service and only accessible through wifi. I remember receiving an e-mail from one of our sales managers that a
new account, S3, had an unbelievable opening week and
was in dire need of many items and asking for Saturday
assistance. They received a simple ‘no one will be there’
response. My first response was ‘what?’ this is not what
we do. I actually was really angry, then my next message was from Danny Valdes to please call him. It was a
horrible sinking feeling and even worse flight home. But
you know what? Even through our grief, we still got the
order to S3. That is what Frank would have wanted.”
Rick Thoni summed up Frank’s spirit best, “I guess
looking back it’s something special although it’s never
thought of that way. The difficult is possible. The impossible may take a couple minutes longer. I credit Frank in
cultivating that mindset in the entire operations department.”
HUMAN RESOURCES
2012 Medaling Coaches
By Keith Hathaway, Director of Learning & Development
We have always had a clear goal of becoming a “World
Class Coaching Organization by 2013” and we are well on
our way to hit our goal. Over the past two years Charmer
Sunbelt and Premier Beverage Company have invested
considerable time and resources to increase our Sales
Leaders’ ability to coach their teams to greater success.
All of our FSMs are part of a Certification Process and
once a year we recognize the best of the best. Please help
me congratulate our 2012 Medaling Coaches!
GOLD
Steve Russ
Jamie Williams
Paul Eisenbarth
Brian Parent
Tampa
Orlando
Orlando
Jacksonville
SILVER
David Sardina
Eduardo Ronquillo
Peter Arena
Cody Souders
David Muffs
Eric Larsen
Jeff Chester
Rich Watson
Brian Torrey
Bruce Klopfenstein
David Duck
Richard Zwick
BRONZE
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Tampa
Tampa
Tampa
Tampa
Tampa
Tampa
Jacksonville
Jacksonville
Jacksonville
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Miramar
Tampa
Tampa
Tampa
Orlando
Pensacola
Pensacola
Fate Passmore
Jill Parham
Tre Lindsey
Omar Jatib
Sergio Ruiz
Stephen Hague
Tal Baumgardner
James DePaso
Joe Steinbach
Lou Suffredini
Ron Bowerman
Jeff Chadwell
Patt Ladd
Craig Mackenzie
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
By Rosanne Mathews, Vice President of HR
Working at Premier Beverage Company has many
benefits – not the least of which is our generous benefits
package provided to us from The Charmer-Sunbelt Group.
Almost every Premier Associate is familiar with the medical,
dental, and life insurance benefits. However, we are also
fortunate to have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
The EAP provides short-term confidential counseling
services to help address a wide range of personal issues
you may be facing. This service is staffed by experienced
professionals who are available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week by calling a toll-free phone number.
You can contact the EAP for help on personal issues, including to stress, anxiety, substance abuse, grief and loss;
legal issues; financial information, resources, and tools; as
well as information, referrals, and resources for work-life
needs such as child or elder care and planning for college.
With internet access, you can research a topic before
calling to seek professional help.
If you would like more information about the EAP, please
refer to your Associate Benefits materials, or contact
your local Human Resources Representative.
SAFETY CORNER: GHS
The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and
Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) was initiated in Europe in 1992
as many nations were experiencing delays and additional
costs when shipping hazardous materials. A United Nations
subcommittee was tasked to bring into agreement the
chemical regulations and standards of different countries
by developing a system that would facilitate a faster,
uniform manner of transporting regulated materials
without compromising the safety and health of supply
chain participants.
Manufacturers and importers will now be required to
evaluate hazards using specific criteria to determine
classifications of chemicals and mixtures that address
physical and health hazards. Under the GHS, employers
must provide information and training to employees,
giving them the right to understand.
GHS educational classes will be available at each Premier house by December 1, 2013 and mandatory for all
associates.
5
SUCCESS STORIES
Paradise Liquors in Pensacola is home to a 50 case Three
Olives S’mores display. Great job by Area Manager SEAN
CAMPION and Sales Representative MATTHEW PHILLIPS.
Bob’s Discount in Leesburg, FL was recently home to a
150+ case display of Jack Daniels Family of Brands for Jack
Bike week. Great job by Sales Representative PAT HOOSTAL, Field Sales Manager RITCH WATSON, Merchandising Manager RICHARD NICOL, Sales Development
Representative BRIAN DUPUIS and Sales Development
Representative KEVIN O’MALLEY.
The Pensacola Package
Team had a successful
Brown Forman Engraving
Event at Richey’s East
Gregory with a total of 67
bottles engraved and sold
on site that night.
6
Premier Beverage
Company kicked off
La Crema’s newest
varietal, Pinot Gris, in
May 2013. Congratulations to the NOBLE
WINE ESTATES team,
led by COURTNEY
HALPERIN, for
leading the country
amongst all of the Noble sales teams with
125 accounts sold by
the end of June. A
special thanks to Erin
Minnihan (pictured)
with MAJESTIC FINE
WINES as well. Great
job!
SUCCESS STORIES
Pensacola has had tremendous sucess with Croctails,
and in the month of May alone they billed 340 cases!
This 50 case display is at Walmart #818 in Panama
City Beach. Great job by Sales Representative DAVID
DEATON and Field Sales Manager CRAIG MACKENZIE.
Premier Beverage recently helped celebrate the 40th
anniversary of Tampa truck driver, WESLEY BRYANT.
The Tampa team presented a very large award signed by
Bob Drinon and Chris Nicolas. Congratulations on this
wonderful achievement!
Great job by Sales Representative KEVIN STEPHENSON
and Field Sales Manager RITCH WATSON for building
this 30 case front end cap Bacardi Pineapple Fusion display at Pat’s Liquor Leaf & Wine in Orlando. This account
is the #1 selling Bacardi Flavored Rum independent
account in Orlando, selling 339 9L cases last fiscal year!
7
SUCCESS STORIES
Great Job by Sales Representative, TJ STACHER, and
Field Sales Manager MEGAN EAGAN on this 50 case
Bacardi Cuba Libre display at Time Out Liquors in
Hollywood, FL.
Grove Liquors in Miami, FL is a high end and big volume
store. They have 4 endcaps to display big brands, and
this 35 case New Amsterdam Vodka endcap was the first
opportunity the local Premier Package team had for one
of these spots. Great job by Sales Representative ALFRED
CABRERA and Field Sales Manager AL GARCIA.
8
The Alliance Package team did a great job of switching over the lobby at Liquor Mart 3 in Miami, FL. Field
Sales Manager ALEX BRANA and Sales Representative
VICTOR ALVAREZ sold in this 30 case Bacardi and Grey
Goose display to replace the competition. Congratulations!
SUCCESS STORIES
Fresh Market
in Tallahassee
was home to a
15 case Kendall
Jackson VR
Chardonnay and
15 case Kendall
Jackson VR Cabernet Sauvignon
display! Great
job by BRUCE
KLOPFENSTEIN,
Field Sales Manager.
Western Beef in South Florida recently bought in a total of 500 cases of Barefoot Refresh between their three
locations. The Pembroke Pines store, pictured above, received 200 of the cases sold in. Great job by Sales
Representative TARALYN LONG, and Field Sales Manager, DAN AHLERS for making this happen!
9
AROUND THE STATE
Tampa | Orlando |Miramar | Jacksonville | Pensacola
JACK SO N VI LL E: FS
U
Bacardi Pineapple
Fusion Tailgate
TAMPA: Backyard
BBQ
MIRAMAR: Cinco de
Mayo at El Vato
O RL AN D O: Rhum
Clement Tasting at
Prato
: Jack
JAC K SO N V IL LE
Paint it Black
10
JAC KSO NV ILLE: Capital
Cities Concert
Tampa | Orlando |Miramar | Jacksonville | Pensacola
MIRAMAR: Customer
Appreciation Lunch
AROUND THE STATE
PENSACOLA: St. Patty’s
at Patty O Leary’s
MIR AM AR: Riverwalk Burger Battle
MIRAMAR: DJ Irie
Weekend at Hyde Beach
MIRAMAR: Retail Wine
Team Volunteers at Junior
Achievement World
11
CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Supplier DSS
By: Wayne Kessler & Paul Fipps
The Charmer Sunbelt Group continuously strives to improve supplier relationships through better connectivity. We
are excited to announce the launch of the new Supplier DSS (SDSS) portal. This project builds upon the success of the
consolidated enterprise data warehouse project we completed in 2012 by adding additional capabilities and insights for
our suppliers. The portal is scheduled to Go-Live this summer for internal CSG users to validate the supplier experience;
a phased roll-out to our suppliers in July will follow thereafter. Developed in collaboration with our suppliers, the new
portal introduces a dashboard providing visual analytics and several enhancements.
Some highlights of the new portal include:
1.Improved Supplier Collaboration: Provides the ability for users to create customized data views and share them with
colleagues.
2.Improved Information: New portal provides deeper insight into data through the use of interactive, visual analytics.
3.Improved Service Delivery: Provides access to supplier analytics via mobile devices and improves compatibility with
additional internet browsers.
4.Upgraded Platform: Allows for future development, streamlining of functionality, improved access to data, and ability
to export data to MS Office applications
In the next few weeks you will receive additional communications about our Supplier Go-Live, Supplier Setup of new
users, and availability of training materials. We will have the new SDSS portal available for internal testing and have a
scheduled internal launch following to allow internal users to validate the supplier experience of using the portal. Once
launched, the current portal will remain active for seven weeks to ensure a smooth transition.
Thank you in advance for supporting this important initiative and continuing to support our efforts to be the Distributor
of Choice for our supplier partners. If you have any questions regarding the changes to SDSS, please contact your Business Relationship Manager.
Did You Know?
In 2013 The Charmer Sunbelt Group celebrates its 10th year hosting Wine & Wishes, an annual fundraising event benefitting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. According to the Foundation’s website, Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children
with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Through Wine &
Wishes, Charmer Sunbelt has raised over $5 million and provided wishes for 525 children.
12