Career Moves
March 25th, 2018
Eric Lake has joined Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits as the Vice President of National Accounts, On-Premise. This new role underscores the increasing commitment and investment that Deutsch Family is making in the on-premise channel, which has steadily increased in size and share of business over the years.
Lake will own the development and implementation of the national and regional on-premise chain strategy. His responsibilities include leveraging market and consumer insights, and marketing tools to build relationships and create new selling ideas. He will also be developing collaborative customer plans that drive significant revenue to benefit the mutual businesses.
Lake brings more than two decades of national accounts on-premise experience, most recently as the Senior Vice President of Sales, On-Premise National Accounts for Young’s Market, where he restructured and re-established the company’s on-premise route to market.
On-premise is an important enabler of Deutsch Family’s long-term strategy to build its portfolio in the “low lux” segment, and Eric has an established track record of delivering breakthrough results in this channel.
M.S. Walker has appointed Tom Conte as the company’s first Director of On-Premise National Accounts. Conte comes with more than 40 years of experience in the spirits industry, most recently serving as Regional Sales Manager and Director of National On-Premise accounts at Serrallés USA.
Tom will now be spearheading sales efforts with national account properties for M.S. Walker’s growing portfolio of nationally represented and produced spirit brands. Brands he will be responsible for include St. Elder Natural Elderflower Liqueur, West Cork Distillers, Pogues Irish Whiskey, Mezcales de Leyenda, Pelotón de la Muerte Mezcal, Grand Mayan Tequila, Monteru French Brandy, Grand Macnish, and more.
“Tom joins our growing team at an exciting time for the company as we are rapidly expanding our portfolio of nationally represented brands,” says Gary Shaw, Executive Vice President of National Sales at M.S. Walker. “His experience and leadership will allow us to continue to propel our expanded presence on a national level with chain on-premise accounts.”
