Chris holds a Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design with a Minor in marketing from Central Michigan University

Beth Graham - Vice President, Public Relations  

Beth brings over 25 years of strategic public relations experience as Vice President of the Gourmet Food PR side of the business. She has worked with food associations, restaurants and gourmet products, representing clients in the pasta, dairy, liquor/wine and organic food industries, in addition to clients in the travel industry. Beth’s expertise lies in her traditional approach to media relations with clients being featured in the nation’s top newspapers, consumer magazines, on TV and in many other top publications. For 15 years, Beth owned her own boutique PR firm, Clever Endeavors PR, where she planned a number of successful events and product launches. She is a blogger, Tweeter, foodie and wannabe gourmet chef.

Follow Beth and our PR work on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GourmetFoodPR

Steve Groth, Business Development Director - Steve brings over 14 years experience in sales and management experience in the staffing and food/beverage industries to GBS. Steve has extensive experience within outside and inside sales, territory management and sales management. He also has experience in developing and training sales teams as well as managing them to surpass expectant revenue targets.

Steve started his experience in the food industry at a food broker and continued with a position as a territory manager for a liquor distribution company. After working within sales and management at a staffing company, Steve returned to the food industry as a VP of Sales for a small gourmet food company where he dramatically grew sales on a Regional and National level. Steve's experience is far-ranging, including new product "roll outs", sales management, strategy development, distribution/logistics, and display.

Steve holds a BS in Communications from the University of Central Florida. He resides in Dunedin with his wife and 2 children.

Leigh Neal, Business and Research Analyst - Leigh brings a positive and fresh outlook to market research, strategy development, and business planning to the clientele of GBS. Leigh has knowledge and experience in a range of topics such as business plan writing, market research, marketing strategies, leadership, organization, and blogging. Leigh resides in Brandon, FL with her husband and 3 year old son.

Leigh attended the University of South Florida and Everest University where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a focus on marketing and strategic planning.

Ron Moon, Vice President, Consulting Operations - Ron brings a positive and energetic work approach and an exemplary blend of talents in the areas of business development, revenue growth, and territory management with over 20 years experience in the food industry. During Ron's numerous consultative management and sales experiences, he has gained extensive expertise in generating new business, revenue growth and client retention.

Prior to joining Gourmet Business Solutions, Ron managed multi-million dollar b2b sales divisions and territories for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Lincoln Foodservice, and Sysco Central Florida.

Ron holds a BS from Florida State University where he studied Social Science and Communications

Megan Lynch, Creative Services Specialist - Megan’s artistic background brings a unique point of view to GBS. She has worked as a freelance photographer for more than seven years, which included contract assignments for a major newspaper.  She specializes in product, portrait, journalistic and artistic photography, as well as image editing and photographic illustration.

Megan’s writing experience runs the gamut from simple product descriptions, web copy and blogging, to many marketing, sales and creative applications. She has a versatile style and easily adapts to her client’s needs.

Megan holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts, with Minors in Art and Journalism from Central Michigan University.

ADVISORY BOARD

John H. Golden III, M.A., Six Sigma Black Belt

John is a Vice President and an experienced market research consultant at a fortune 50 company and is an Advisory Board Member for Gourmet Business Solutions. As an Advisory Board Member, John focuses his consulting efforts on market research strategy and execution, including conducting focus groups, survey research, and other robust data gathering and analysis efforts to provide overall direction for market strategy and planning for gourmet startup businesses.

Education
John holds a M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of South Florida and focused his research on consumer behavior and preferences. He has taken numerous courses in business, organization development, assessment and measurement, advanced statistics, research methods, and market research. He has presented papers and symposia at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), International Congress for Public Administration, and American Psychological Association (APA) conferences. He has also published a variety of professional, research-based articles in top-tier journals. John also holds a Six Sigma Black Belt certification.

Professional Background
John has 15 years of work-related experience as an internal and external market research, business, and management consultant. Prior to working as a Vice President at his current fortune 50 financial organization, John was a senior consultant at Lowe’s Corporation, where he led many large-scale, visible research-driven projects. He also worked at Safeway Inc. as a Team Manager, and Arthur Andersen and Aon Consulting, as a Senior Consultant where he led several large-scale projects.

Jonathan M. Soares, Founder & CEO Q Products, Inc.

Jonathan is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Q Products, Inc. and is an Advisory Board Member for Gourmet Business Solutions. As an Advisor, Jonathan focuses his consulting efforts on; sales, marketing, brand pioneering, developing strategic partnerships, co-packing relationships, national account development, broker management, viral & social media branding, customer management, sales team management, contract negotiation, product development, in-store-marketing, product merchandising, new product launches, M&A, capital allocation and alternative financing.

Professional Background
Jonathan founded Q Products in May 2005 marketing his "Jonathan's Q" brand of gourmet BBQ Sauces, Marinades and Dressings. Mr. Soares single-handily launched the "Jonathan’s Q" brand nationally into more than 5,000 retail locations with a $10k investment in less than 3 years. His company includes a portfolio of developing brands focused in grocery, mass, food service, club and drug store channels of distribution. Jonathan has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Gourmet News, live on Fox Business news and ABC News NOW. In 2009 he was honored as one of Fairfield County’s "TOP 40 UNDER 40."

Education
Jonathan holds a BBA in Marketing from Western Connecticut State University. He was named the "Featured Graduate" of the Connecticut State Universities and in 2008 was honored as a Distinguished Alumni for WCSU. Mr. Soares currently serves on the Advisory Board for the WCSU Ancell School of Business and is an active contributor to the WCSU Alumni Foundation.

Personal
Jonathan’s office is based in Danbury, CT and he lives in New Milford, CT. He is a member of Walnut Hill Community Church and serves on various boards both corporate and non-profit.

Jerry Gabbert, President - Sell Gourmet Network

Jerry is an industry veteran with over 20 years experience in numerous areas, including sales, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship. As the President of The Sell Gourmet Network, Jerry has assisted hundreds of food businesses ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Professional Background
Starting in the restaurant field in a major culinary Capital, New Orleans, Jerry caught the food business "bug" and never looked back, eventually moving his way up the corporate ladder at Kraft Foods in Houston where he worked in Sales and Marketing, Sales Training, Margin Management, Healthcare Sales, Information and Technology Solution Sales, Web Application Development and Implementation and finally, Senior Sales Management. During his tenure there, Kraft Foods was involved in several mergers and acquisitions including Alliant Foodservice and US Foodservice.

Upon relocating back to New Orleans, Jerry was recruited as a Business Development Consultant for a major eCommerce company where his skillsets were a natural fit in growing small-medium sized gourmet food companies. Jerry's time there was short-lived following Hurricane Katrina which severely impacted him personally, as well as the business overall. As a result, Jerry was forced to relocate to Houston, once again, where he put his knowledge and expertise to use in his own venture, Uptown Gourmet Food Brokers, which later became a division of The Sell Gourmet Network, which Jerry founded in 2007 and currently operates.

Jerry is also the Chief Operating Officer of Great Candy Company, LLC, an upstart sales and marketing company that identifies branded - but under allocated - candy and confection products for distribution. At GCC, Jerry has allocated resources to transport, store, sell and distribute candy and confection products across the United States, and has developed a network of brokers and distributors to market and deliver to their list of direct-buy program and independent wholesale accounts.

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Collectively, our wealth of resources offers completely integrated gourmet food sales and food marketing solutions capable of guiding gourmet food companies to ensured growth and profitability.

Contact us today to learn how Gourmet Business Solutions can point you in the right direction, and start taking your gourmet food business to a whole new level today!