Iconic Brands Bolsters its National Product Distribution with the Expansion of Sales Team

•  Appointed new regional sales leaders will oversee teams dedicated to national retail chains both on and off premise, grocery chains and restaurants 
• New sales team brings over 150 years of expertise and industry experience in sales and marketing, and distribution of wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks for major brands and alcohol beverage companies including Jim Beam Brands, Diageo, PepsiCo and others

AMITYVILLE, NY, March 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via  Iconic Brands, Inc. (OTCQB: ICNB) (“Iconic” or the “Company”), a leader in the development, design and delivery of alcohol and non-alcohol beverages, announced today the appointment of seven new members to its sales team, further strengthening the Company’s national product distribution channel and sales strategy. The new sales team brings over 150 years of industry expertise in selling, marketing and distributing wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks for major brands and alcohol beverage companies including Jim Beam Brands, Diageo, PepsiCo and others. These new members of the Company’s sales team have a history of successfully building multi-billion-dollar brands.

Iconic’s sales team includes former Senior Managers who have held executive positions across the supplier and distributor tiers across the country. They are geographically placed based on their expertise in the regions they are responsible for. All have experience in brand-building and have a history of building relationships with their customers and trade partners. Iconic plans to appoint sales leaders with experience in the regions in which they are placed to oversee distribution, sales and relationship building. Iconic also intends to develop a team dedicated to national retail chains and grocery stores and a team dedicated to restaurant chains, once that channel opens.

“Our revamped sales team includes a number of talented members who have worked with billion-dollar brands,” said Iconic Chief Executive Officer, Larry Romer. “Expanding our national sales team has been a key piece to driving expansion and growth. We have an impressive line-up of products and extensive manufacturing capabilities that need our regional sales leaders to canvas the United States. They understand the intricacies of the alcohol industry, know how to build successful brands and bring decades of experience. We’ve chosen these new members of our sales team based on their track record of execution and success, and believe their contributions will provide immediate return on investment. We couldn’t be more excited to take this next step as a company.”   

Select sales team bios:

Peter Hickey, Executive VP Sales. Peter brings over 40 years of experience in the wine and spirits business. He has held senior sales and marketing management positions at Whitbread, Jim Beam Brands, Allied Domecq, and most recently as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Control States Division at Southern Glazer Wine and Spirits. He has extensive experience in the sale and marketing of wine and spirits in the U.S. and International markets.

Rob Imperial, Regional VP Sales, Central Region. Rob has over 38 years in the alcohol beverage industry, including 26 years with the Jim Beam Brands Co. and Future Brands LLC, a joint venture between Jim Beam Brands and Absolut Spirits Co. (Absolut Vodka). He has held numerous manager and director positions across many areas, at both the regional and national levels, including roles in sales, brand and regional marketing, logistics and new product innovation. Before joining Iconic, he was VP of Sales Administration for Agave Loco LLC, owner of the popular RumChata Cream Liqueur brand, from 2013-2021, and was responsible for all areas of sales administration and compliance for the U.S.

Kevin Tramuta, Regional Sales Director, West. Kevin has over 40 years of experience in the Wine and Spirits Industry, including 20 years with the Jim Beam Brands Company. At Jim Beam, he held positions as State Manager Colorado/New Mexico, Control States Division Manager, and Rocky Mountain Division Vice President. More recently, Kevin spent seven years with Breakthru Beverage Colorado as a Division Manager, Western Slope, and two years as a Sales Manager for Wyoming Whiskey.

George Fisher, VP of National Retail Sales. George has 29 years of experience with PepsiCo. He was VP for the Central Division team for 10 states based in Chicago and was a VP/GM at Walmart/Sam’s and helped build the Walmart team; now a five-billion-dollar beverage business. Previously, he was VP of Franchise Sales and oversaw sales and relationships with franchise bottlers nationwide for Southern Wine and Spirits. He was SVP of National Accounts and built a national account team covering all national customers, which included Safeway, Kroger, Walmart and CVS. He helped grow the business into a four billion dollar enterprise, building a team of sales, category management and analysts in the process. He also worked closely with SWS states and national customers.

Other sales members include:

• Peter Collins, VP Sales, Northeast: over 25 years of experience, including 14 at Diageo. He also worked at the Paddington Corporation and ran the Northeast division of the Sazerac Company.
• Joe Mesuda, VP of Sales, Midwest: ran Eber Brothers Distributor in New York, and worked at Jim Beam. He was also the head of the Northeast division for Agave Loco LLC (RumChata) until it was purchased by Gallo.
• Andrea Christensen, VP of Sales, Southeast: Andrea started her career in Dallas with Glazer’s Distributors and has held National Account Director positions with Crimson Wine Group, Ferrari-Carano, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Beam Global, and Foster’s Wine Estates. 

About Iconic 

Iconic Brands, Inc (OTCQB: ICNB) is a leader in the development, design and delivery of alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. TopPop, its wholly owned subsidiary, is a leader in the innovation of low calorie, “ready to go” drinks – ready-to-freeze (RTF) and ready-to-drink (RTD) products in sustainable, flexible and stand-up pouch packaging and in the alcohol ice-pop and “cocktails-to-go” market. Iconic’s brands include “Bellissima” by Christie Brinkley, a premium better-for-you and better-for-the-planet collection of Prosecco, Sparkling Wines and Still Wines, all of which are certified vegan and made with organic grapes. Bellissima is strategically positioned with its zero sugar wines in the zero sugar beverage category. The Company operates in multiple states, distributes across the globe and has Fortune 500 customers that include some of the world’s largest alcohol beverage companies and brands.

Please visit Iconic’s websites and follow us on social media. 

Websites: Iconicbrandsusa.com; bellissimaprosecco.com; toppoppkg.com; sonjasangria.com 

Twitter: @iconicbrandsus; @Sonja_Sangria 

Instagram: @IconicBrandsUSA; @BellissimaProsecco; @sonja_sangria 

LinkedIn: Iconic Brands USA; TopPop Packaging

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of management, are not guarantees of performance, and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various risks, including those set forth in Iconic’s reports that it files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and which you should review, including those statements under “Item 1A – Risk Factors” in Iconic’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. 

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