Wes Cort – Restaurant & Beverage Development and Operations, Norwegian Cruise Line.

Co-Founders and Executive Director of Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans

Joe Smith, Sr. Vice President of Sales for Monin Gourmet Flavorings, is an industry veteran with over thirty years of foodservice experience. Prior to joining Monin, his career included major accomplishments in sales and sales management positions at Ocean Spray Cranberries and Hills Bros. Coffee.

President / CEO Cruzan Rum Distillery

The Corporate Director of Food & Beverage Operations for Interstate Hotels & Resorts, where he has worked for the last 19 years. Interstate is the United States’ largest independent hotel management company.

in the Mix had the opportunity to spend some time and have a casual interview with Chris Indelicato. We talked about the past and future, the on premise channel, national accounts and more.

A Q&A with Scott Hempstead, Division Manager, On-premise National Accounts Boston Beer Company. Topics include casual dine today, craft beer variety and driving profits.

Since 1970, Chef Alexander Feher has served up some incredible cuisine for InterContinental hotels across the globe. After working at IHG properties in Beirut, Frankfurt, Dubai, and Tehran, he came to the InterContinental Miami, where he was promoted to Executive Chef and has remained for more than 20 years. In celebration of the chef’s 40th anniversary of service with InterContinental, InterContinental Miami officially launched “Table 40,” a new chef table named to honor Alex Feher.

A 25-year hospitality veteran, David Tetens is Director of Food and Beverage for the North American Division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. In this role, David is responsible not only for StarBev , which is Starwood’s beverage program, but also for the asset management of the Gerber Group and the Midnight Oil portfolio of bars, and the creation and development of internal bar and restaurant concepts.

Known for being the founder of John Paul Mitchell Hair Systems, and more important to us as imbibers of fine spirits, the founder of The Patrón Spirits Company, John Paul DeJoria has had an extraordinary life to say the least. He went from being homeless and in foster homes when he was young, to starting the John Paul Mitchell Systems with a $700 loan in 1980 and later being ranked 66th on The Forbes 400 Richest Americans list.

Tim Hanni MW is a wine industry entrepreneur with businesses that focus on consumer research, wine education, and developing new systems designed to make wine easier to understand and more enjoyable. Hanni is one of the first two Americans to earn the Master of Wine credential and is a professionally trained chef.

Jeff Bartfield, a veteran national accounts personality, has been an industry presence for some time. Starting in the Seagram days, as his father did, he’s been in the national account business for 29 of his 33 years on the job. He is a board member of the charity CORE™ (Children of Restaurant Employees) and supports the ABI (American Beverage Institute).