Our Team

Meet the team behind the strategy - beverage industry leaders with deep roots in sourcing, operations, and supply chain.

We’re not just strategic sourcing experts - we’re former operators, commercial leaders, plant managers, and category experts who understand the pressures you face because we’ve lived them. Whether it's scaling a co-pack network, navigating freight challenges, or negotiating complex ingredient deals, we’ve done it - and now we do it for you.

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Tim Near

Partner - Procurement / Supply Chain / Process

  • President (5 years) of the Anheuser-Busch InBev / Pepsi “Strategic Sourcing Consortium” which purchased billions with a high ROI in goods and service across Raw Materials and Packaging, Transportation and Logistics, Contract Labor, IT, Marketing and SG+A spends.

  • ABInbev VP Logistics and Procurement for North America, was part of senior management team that delivered >$2.5b in synergies and cost savings.

  • Over 20 years of experience in Logistics, Supply Chain (bought billions of freight), Procurement, Share Service, Plant Management in packaged goods companies including ABInbev, Quaker Oats, and Nielson’s Dairy.

  • At one point the largest buyer of hops in the World.

  • Direct experience in divesting and introducing new suppliers from the group-up in paper packaging, can and bottle producers resulting in a granular understanding of the supplier side of the business.

  • HBSC, Guelph University, Supply Chain, Sir Sanford College, Intensive Brewing Science, UC Davis, Insead / Wharton Global Business Development Program

  • Senior advisor with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the Procurement, Operations and Consumer Products sectors

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David van Wees

Partner – CPG Commercial Leader and Entrepreneur

  • Experienced Commercial Leader. GPG Global expert in sales, brand management, agent/wholesaler management, importing, and corporate accounts.

  • President for the North American Region for Swinkels Family Brewers, of the Netherlands, importing and marketing their brands across both the US and Canada through a large variety of channels.

  • Founder and CEO of Latis for 10 years. An import beer company that launches brands from scratch and distributes them to a network of over 100 wholesalers.

  • Senior Commercial Leader with InBev for 16 years, including US VP of Marketing with +$100MM marketing budget, Global Lead Stella Artois (+$1b revenue brand), Global New Brand Development, M&A team member responsible for brand diligence, and a variety of brand management and sales roles across North America.

  • HBA, Trent University, MBA Sacred Heart, Global Business Development Program, Insead / Wharton

  • Honorary Knighthood, Belgium Brewing Guild.

Roster of Specialists

Agrowgate has a strong roster of senior specialists to introduce knowledge and horsepower when needed. For most operations it is not practical to have high-powered functional experts on staff, however they can provide a competitive point of difference.

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Taras Hetmanczuk

Senior Advisor / COO and Strategy Bev Alc Industry Expertise

  • Former COO and VP Sales at Regional and Multinational Breweries.

  • Cross Functional experience including leadership roles in sales and marketing, procurement, supply chain, operations, strategy and finance.

  • M & A and integration leadership experience in craft

  • Led significant revenue and cost transformational projects.

  • Led multi-year cost savings initiatives in both Canada and US on numerous occasions and across catetories.

  • Experience in leading customer centric organizational transformation.

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Adam Faietta

Procurement and Supply Chain Account Director

  • Over two decades of supply-chain experience across beverage, CPG, and grocery categories.

  • Specializes in strategic sourcing, vendor negotiations, and high-volume packaging and product launches.

  • Experienced in forecasting, inventory management, and building Lean warehouse operations to support growth.

  • Proven track record managing contracts during double-digit volume increases and scaling production environments.

  • Former President of Maine’s ASCM/APICS chapter; certified CSCP, CLTD, CPIM, and Six Sigma Green Belt.

  • Blends data-driven analytics with deep industry insight to help producers improve cost, continuity, and supplier relationships.

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Tom O’Grady

CFO / Analytics

  • Former CFO of Long Trail, doubled EBITDA in 6 year period, InBev USA and Becks North America with proven expertise in financial accounting and strategic planning

  • Results driven with an expertise in cost management and EBITDA enhancement. Track record of successful ability to lead multifunctional operational groups such as HR, Distribution and Operations]

  • Broad consumer goods and international experience including leadership roles with Diageo, Sara Lee and JP Foodservices.

  • Balance of strong operations financial management and strategic commercial thought leadership.

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Mark Mathews

Senior Adviser – Commodities and Risk Management Expert

  • 20+ years commodity research, valuation and trading experience

  • Identifying and quantifying how different sectors think about price risk

  • Price risk management and commodity exposure management with Louis Dreyfus Corp, Bunge Corp and Credit Suisse Bank (JV with Glencore Commodities)

  • Advised commodity producers and consumers to manage the financial aspects of their commodity exposures

  • Customized Over The Counter (OTC) agreements to protect cash flow and price risk

  • Vanderbilt University – Bachelor’s of Engineering (1995) Civil Engineering

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Michael Duddy

Supply Chain and Procurement Analyst

  • Graduated from Penn State's Smeal College of Business in May 2024

  • Earned a degree in Supply Chain Management

  • Completed a minor in Management Information Systems

  • Proficient in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

  • Experienced in data analysis, reporting, and presentation

  • Enthusiastic about leveraging technology to optimize supply chain processes

  • Member of the Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA)

    • Participated in case studies, facility tours, and networking events

  • Vice President of the Ski Racing Club

    • Competed in 3 national championships

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John Obenhaus

Global Logistics & Supply Chain Operations

  • SSC (ABI/Pepsi Strategic Souring Consortium), Pepsi-Frito, Roadway Express and Consolidated Freight

  • Logistics – supply chain operations, transportation, procurement, fleet management, cost control and six sigma

  • Distribution – warehouse, forecasting, project management, TQM, outsourcing

  • Category Management – negotiations, inventory management, total cost of ownership and global sourcing

  • Demand Planning – bid analysis, business continuity, financial planning, budget control and market analysis

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Lester Jones

Economist

  • Chief Economist and Vice President of Analytics: National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).

  • 20 years of experience in industry research, survey methodology, and applied business economics

  • Expert at tracking the economic factors that impact the beer and alcohol policy decisions at the federal, state, and local levels, evaluates and develops primary industry data, including economic impact, tax impacts, sales, and volume data.

  • Previous experience includes serving as Chief Economist at the Beer Institute and positions at Nielsen and Towson State University.

  • Master of Science in Economics from the University of Delaware and is a Certified Business Economist.

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Warren Dibble

Proven Operator

  • 35 years of leadership at Mass Bay (Harpoon), including CFO, establishing ESOP, co-packing partnerships, procurement, strategy, self-distribution, and oversight of multiple brewery tap rooms.

  • M & A due diligence, bank approval, and post-close integration

  • Led multiple, successful senior bank debt refinancing projects

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Beth J. Brown

Senior Advisor - Supply Chain & Procurement - Strategy, Process, Partnerships

  • Work with CPG companies build supply chain strategies through integrated process planning and supplier partnerships generating efficiencies and cost savings.

  • Supply Chain leader with 25+ years of CPG experience leading and optimizing supply chain, operations and integrated business planning with a focus on continuous improvement at leading and emerging beverage brands.

  • Designed planning and inventory strategies to create operating efficiencies and strong partnerships with suppliers and co-producers. Initiated and deployed procurement strategy and process to drive flexibility, savings and recipe optimization driving COGS savings of $1+ per case and 1% margin growth.

  • Implemented numerous S&OP process improvements with specific focus on inventory visibility and forecasting, excess and obsolete reduction, supply and demand impact and standard metric reporting.

  • Led numerous commercialization and rebranding projects driving COGs savings and reduction in inventory exposure.

  • Career includes roles at Heineken, Reed’s, Diageo, Pepsi and Gillette.

  • BS in Operations Mgmt from Syracuse University and an MBA from Northeastern University.