KDP on the Main Stage at BevNET Live’s Summer Conference
KDP’s Chief Commercial Officer Eric Gorli touched down in NYC this week to kick off the annual BevNET Live summer event that pairs industry experts and beverage leaders with the next generation of founders and entrepreneurs.
As the day’s first keynote address, Eric spoke to 300 highly engaged audience members, first sharing a presentation on KDPs unique partnership model followed by a fireside chat with BevNET’s Editor in Chief. During his presentation, Eric remarked on the innovator spirit that was in the room citing that it is the same challenger mindset that drives KDPs approach to partnerships. He noted there is no “one-size-fits-all” structure for success and pointed to the variety just within the premium water category with Polar, Evian, Core and Vita Coco.
Jeff Klineman, Editor in Chief of BevNET welcomed Eric to the Q+A and introduced the opportunity as his own “white whale” saying that he’s looked forward to the opportunity to go in-depth with KDP as he appreciates the company’s “willingness to provide both the money and the muscle to move companies forward, as well as a bias to action that has resulted in terrific growth on both sides.”
Eric spoke about the company’s vision of delivering a beverage for every need, anytime, anywhere, and shared some key observations about his time with the company both pre- and post-merger (2018): “A significant evolution post-merger is how we work with our partner brands, formerly known as allied brands. Eric spoke about the company’s vision of delivering a beverage for every need, anytime, anywhere, and shared some key observations about his time with the company both pre- and post-merger (2018): “A significant evolution post-merger is how we work with our partner brands, formerly known as allied brands. Partnerships were part of the Keurig coffee system DNA and as part of the merger, that line of thinking translated across the business to our cold beverages.”
The two spoke about the power of the KDP DSD system, strengthening territories and investing in its infrastructure through people and process. When asked about the journey of a founder into the KDP portfolio, Eric emphasized that the company looks to leverage the spaces where needs, occasions and people connect and that will work within our portfolio,” and that sometimes the journey “depends on what life stage a company is in. Some partners come into the system with their own sales teams and field teams, for example, while others leverage our expertise to amplify in-store execution/display. The KDP model has the most success when we connect partners at a specific moment, and we can put an accelerator on distribution.”
For more about the event or to see Eric’s presentation, please visit Bevnet.com
