WineTalent Classifieds: Market Manager - Closures and Corks

WineTalent Classifieds:  WineTalent is working with our client, Saxco International, on a Market

Manager position for the Closures and Corks product category. 

Job Description:  This role is a business leader working with wineries and breweries on their closure needs. The position interfaces with suppliers and understands product offerings to define the portfolio. This person needs an understanding of closures and production needs and will be communicating the technical aspects of the products to customers and colleagues.  The Market Manager will assist salespeople and customers with product selection. This position will be responsible for:  developing and defining brand management objectives, establishing a business plan and forecast management with sales, evaluating supply options with Supply Chain managers, and recommending supply needs to fulfill market demands. This will be done in conjunction with the company’s associated growth objectives including an annual category market budget.

Qualifications: 

·      BS/BA degree, preferably in Marketing.

·      Experience and knowledge of closure technology or related fields. 


·      Minimum of five to eight years of professional services in market management.

·      Extensive experience in all aspects of developing and maintaining product marketing strategies to meet category objectives. 


·      Strong understanding of customer and market dynamics and requirements. 


·      Willingness to travel and work with a national team of sales professionals. 


·      Thorough understanding of branding principles and tactics through multiple media outlets. 

·      Proven ability to design, develop and implement both strategic programs and supporting 
tactics in product development. 


·      Superior written and verbal communication skills, coupled with highly developed 
interpersonal skills. Strong managerial skills preferred. 


·      Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to multi-task and set 
priorities within tight time lines and high client expectations. 


·      Ability to quickly grasp complex category technical and business concepts and express 
them in clear language. 


·      Flexible and open to changing priorities and managing multiple tasks simultaneously 
within compressed time frames. 


Resume Submittal:  Interested candidates are encourage to send their resume to amy@winetalent.net.  All inquiries will be kept completely confidential.

Report from Winejobs.com: April Hiring Down for Wineries

Winejobs.com just sent out their April update on job postings for April 2017.  Postings were down 3% from April 2016, but still up 5% year-to-date.  Winemaking postings increased the most, up 18% from the same time last year.  DTC, tasting room and hospitality positions were up 3% from a year ago, and up 1% year-to-date.  Sales and marketing postings decreased last month, down 30% from the year prior.  They are also down 8 percent year-to-date.

Here's the Index of Winejobs.com job postings for 2016 and through April 2017.




 

WineTalent Classifieds: Pacific Northwest Equipment Sales

Help Wanted: Equipment Sales Representative

WineTalent is working with our client ColloPack Solutions on a Sales Representative search.  ColloPack is a leading distributor of equipment to the US wine and beverage industry.  The Equipment Salesperson will be responsible for providing equipment solutions to wineries.  This sales position is involved in the entire sales cycle, including initial customer contact, identifying product solutions for each customer and managing equipment purchasing and any logistical needs of each customer.

Responsibilities:

• Building and maintaining long-term business relationships with customers In the Pacific Northwest winemaking region.
• Identifying the production equipment needs of individual customers and developing proposals that meet the needs of the production environment. 
• Demonstrating equipment capabilities and discussing alternative solutions that benefit the customer and highlight CollloPack’s product lines. 
• Professionally representing ColloPack throughout the US at industry events, tradeshows, and in-person meetings. 
• Understanding priorities and goal setting with efficient time management.
• Identifying opportunities for additional sales opportunities with existing customers of all ColloPack equipment offerings.
• Preparation and presentation of customized plans, budgets and schedules for each customer.
• Prioritizing duties effectively and managing sales cycle to maximize efficiency.
• Following up with customers on a timely basis.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Enology and Viticulture, Food Science or Chemistry highly desirable.  A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or related disciplines will be considered with a proven knowledge of wine production. 
• Experience in winemaking and an understanding of winery production equipment and facilities.
• Filtration experience.
• Good presentation and listening skills.
• Technical sales experience highly desirable.
• Strong organization skills required.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to effectively facilitate internal and external business relationships.
• Hard-working, trustworthy and positive demeanor.

Book Review: In Memory of Bread by Paul Graham

I like to joke that I am pro-gluten and a bread fanatic.  Right now, downstairs on my kitchen counter is homemade challah rising for my quasi birthday/Easter/Passover dinner tonight.  I have been a devotee of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the cookbook my challah recipe is from.  Years ago, with my freshly minted bachelor's diploma, I went to work for a food laboratory.  The reason I applied was because they made sourdough cultures--my all-time favorite type of bread.  Growing up, a classmate always had "Fred" in the fridge, a sourdough culture that her mom fed weekly and used to make sandwich rolls that I was so envious of.  I have been a bit flippant about gluten adverse people, but have always respected the fact that celiac disease is a true reason to completely avoid gluten, and often, bread.  Reading In Memory of Bread by Paul Graham was truly enlightening, and gives me true empathy for gluten intolerant people and those dealing with celiac disease.

Why would I write a review of a memoir of bread on WineTalent's career blog?  Because many of us in the wine industry are also big foodies, and many of us love great yeasty breads, a good craft brew, and are adventurous eaters.  So was Paul Graham, up until he was waylaid by celiac disease at the age of 36.  Paul Graham was an accomplished home brewer, a voluminous consumer of homemade wheat breads and someone who loved to experience life through food and drink.

As a professor of English at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, Paul is an accomplished writer who loves reading authors that write about food.  Much of his food education was based on the writings of gourmands like M. F. K. Fisher, Julia Child, Calvin Trillin, Ruth Reichl and my personal favorite, Jim Harrison (a cool book shop owner in Medford, Oregon turned me onto Jim Harrison years ago in his book Dalva, and I've voraciously consumed all of his books since then).

Paul Graham writes a breezy, food-centric memoir about his life before and after his diagnosis.  He delves a bit into our food supply chain, and talks about his commitment to living the locavore lifestyle as outlined in Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  This is a lifestyle many of us have adapted, and many of us may continue to purchase wheat that is farmed and processed far away from us because we just need to have flour and make bread.  Ironically, I am also currently reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, On the Banks of Plum Creek, where the Ingalls family is so excited about their wheat crop, saying it is going to bring large sums of money to the family.  Wheat was and is a very important crop in the world, and as Paul Graham notes, wheat and gluten is hard to avoid in our society.

For much of his book, Paul Graham mourns the lose of bread and of gluten.  Then he has an epiphany and realizes he needs to approach food and cooking from a non-wheatcentric angle.  Once he realizes there is a big food world out there that's GF, he starts to explore new foods and embraces food and cooking again.

He and his wife also try hard to make GF breads and baked goods.  The first attempts were awful, as were their experiences with GF beer.  Paul starts baking with America's Test Kitchen's The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook.  Rethinking how to bake, the ingredients and techniques were his first challenge.  But once he embraced America's Test Kitchen's ways, he was pleasantly surprised and quite pleased with many of the things he could make and eat again.  One of those was pizza.  I too love to bake homemade pizza, and would be lost if I couldn't eat or make pizza ever again.  As he writes, America's Test Kitchen attracts a nerdy type of cook.  And yes you guessed it, I am also a devotee of ATK--listening to the podcasts on my way to and from wine country on business, and thrilled when my new Cook's Country arrives.

It was hard to read about how gluten destroyed Paul Graham's body, and how he had to completely rid his house and his life of gluten.  Being completely gluten free is hard for anyone to be, and Paul's storytelling of his odyssey really brought it to light for me.  I have new respect for my friends who have to be GF for their children with celiac disease and also now more fully understand why many people are avoiding gluten.

I am thankful that I can still enjoy my glutinous food, but now more completely understand what gluten can do to those who are intolerant, and will gladly help anyone be GF when they feel it is warranted.  Luckily, as Paul Graham notes, wine is most always completely GF.

Great book, read it if you enjoy learning about our food history, how people are dealing with gluten intolerance, and for a memoir of a great writer's farewell to bread.

Book Review: Money on the Table by Melissa Greenwell

This winter I read "Money on the Table:  How to Increase Profits Through Gender-Balanced Leadership" by Melissa Greenwell.  Ms. Greenwell is promoting more gender balance in corporate boardrooms, in executive leadership and in management positions to reflect the population and to increase diversity of thought and experience at the upper levels of companies.

Ms. Greenwell is herself an executive level business professional.  She has worked her way up through several different large and small companies.  She has witnessed gender inequities and had to push hard to make herself part of the leadership board.  

As a woman in top roles, she has also seen how more gender balance at the top allows more diverse thinking and problem solving than occurs at companies that are out of balance.  

Yes, most companies, boardrooms and management ranks continue to be male dominated.  Ms. Greenwell cites case studies and uses good statistics to lead the charge for more women at the top.  Of course if there are men at the top of the organization, Ms. Greenwell needs to write to her audience.  Her writing style is easy to follow and gives both strong statistics to support her argument and anecdotes to promote her cause.  

Money on the Table does promote gender balance as a tool to be financially and managerially competitive in today's global economy.  This book is a great one to review as companies are planning their governing boards, determining their executive team and filling their management ranks.  Attention to gender balance is always important when you are placing the right people for the job.  

To find out more about this book and the author, please visit http://melissa-greenwell.com/book/