Archives: Speakers

The golden thread in Tom’s life is food and drink, it’s his passion and has been his career for two decades. From producing, sourcing, selling, creating, and consuming he has devoted his career to it and in 2012 launched an artisan distillery. Growing up on a farm, with a gregarious mother who taught home economics created the hard working, bonne vivant producer at the heart of Warner’s Distillery. “There was no other option, farming is an entrepreneurial industry, so starting a business was in the blood and hosting people for home-made food and drink is my passion, the distillery allows me to share that passion with the world.”

Warner’s Distillery  now create award winning liquid across 4 categories (gin, 0% and rum) increasing their self-sufficiency and working with nature as they grow. They were the first craft distillery to launch a range of 100% natural non-alcoholic spirits and the team continues to push the boundaries of the spirits industry, forging new variants and entirely new categories, creating award-winning favourites and world firsts like their Rhubarb Gin, where one third of every bottle is real rhubarb juice. Their new brand Trash and Treasure focusses on utelising food waste from other UK manufactueres to make a sustainable spirits range.

Hailing from South Africa, Hendre’ joined the ranks of Distillers in 2014, after spending 15 years in the Liquor and Hospitality Industry at various levels. Over a period of 7 years, Hendre’ trained over 6 000 individuals from more than 35 countries in the science and art of distillation. He designed, constructed, and commissioned more than 100 Craft Distilleries in over 14 countries – so far afield as Australia, Europe, the Middle East and of course, Africa.

In 2022, Hendre’ joined the ranks of JIM & TONIC as Head Distiller and Production Manager, and he has since overseen the companies’ product portfolio expansion and diversification, the launch of their RTD range, construction of 2 new distilleries, and a complete overhaul of the company’s sustainability strategy.

Tom is the co-founder of El Rayo Tequila – a modern Tequila designed to pair with tonic. Launched in 2019, El Rayo is inspiring a new generation of Tequila drinkers to think and drink creatively.

Mark has worked in the drinks industry for over 20 years across a variety of commercial, and both consumer and trade marketing roles. In his current role, Mark uses his experience to lead and grow Pernod Ricard UK’s Enterprise Portfolio a collection of incubator brands including Lillet, Italicus, Del Maguey, and The Deacon.

Michael Schmid is an accomplished innovator with a diverse background in consumer goods and the spirits industry first as well as with a strong technical and commercial expertise. He started his career at Braun GmbH where he spearheaded innovations in the electric appliances sector and later transitioned to the sports industry where he designed and manufactured a wide range of products.

During his tenure at Procter & Gamble, he gained deep consumer insights and commercial knowledge before spending the last decade at Bacardi where he held various roles in packaging development, activity management and breakthrough innovation. As the packaging development and breakthrough innovation lead, he naturally led several initiatives including sustainability ones.

Michael is also an active member of the Next Generation Blenders Club (NGBC) which provides Bacardi talents with experience from across categories and disciplines to build capability for the future. Michael spent most of his career working in an international context including various assignment abroad.