Automatic Merchandiser - 14

INDIVIDUALS
KAREN CLARK

Customer Business Leader,
MARS Ice Cream

Clark started in the industry in 1993 with
M&M/MARS when she began calling on
Karen
operators in the Midwest. Since then, she
Clark
has held multiple positions at what is now
MARS WRIGLEY with the last seven years as Customer
Business Leader for MARS Ice Cream. Her passion is the
development of new business within the channel. For her,
there is only one challenge - how to sell more ice cream.
When she shifted from selling MARS Candy to MARS Ice
Cream, she brought a lot of solutions that made ice cream
easier to handle, more fun to sell and more profitable for
operators. Clark brought a category management approach
to micro markets, which not only increased sales on her
own brands, but helped to elevate the entire ice cream category for micro markets.

LINDEL CREED

Owner, Vendweb.com

Creed has more than 20 years of experience
in the industry, starting in the service department for a vending company. He then ran a
Lindel
service department and distributor training
Creed
for a larger vending company. He moved
on to manage one of the largest refurbishing centers on the
East Coast and was one of the first companies to sell vending
machines and parts on the internet. He has been in business
at Vendweb.com for 15 years. He has been one of the first in
the industry to provide age-restricted vending applications.

ANDREW DIDIER

CEO, Agora Refreshments

In order to combat the confusion and
unknowns of the pandemic early on, Didier
introduced the idea of " Remote Breakroom
boxes " - boxes of snacks and options to
include coffee or tea - to be sent directly
to employees' homes. Everything they
Andrew
would normally have access to in the office
Didier
now shipped directly to their remote work
location. Within a few weeks, Agora launched a website
for Remote Breakroom and began introducing the concept
to existing clients. Over the course of the last six months,
Agora was able to bring in more than $100,000 in revenue
14

Automatic Merchandiser * December 2020

from Remote Breakroom boxes. This pivot in Agora's business model helped the business tremendously during an
unprecedented time and was the beginning of the solution
to the challenges it faced. Didier did this not only for the
survival of his company, but also for his employees.

JOHN DOURSON

National Sales Manager,
Sara Lee Frozen Bakery

Through his more than 28 years in the
industry, Dourson has found ways to
improve products and procedures that
John
Dourson
better serve growth for the channel. He
continually stays committed to educating people and
companies that are outside " the walls " of the industry on
the value and benefits of participating in it. He has worked
tirelessly to help the industry, the operator, the distributor,
and the consumer. He has helped his companies to update
packaging to meet the requirements of the channel and
increased shelf life to better serve the needs of the operators
and consumers.

MATT DUDLEY

North American Sales Director,
Marco Beverage Systems

As the North American sales director for
Marco Beverage Systems, Dudley works
with suppliers, distributors, operators, and
Matt
Dudley
end users across a wide variety of channels
in the U.S. and Canada, with a sharp focus on enhancing
the customer beverage experience. In addition to Marco's
existing lineup of sleek water and coffee brewing solutions, he introduces his clients to innovative solutions
that solve real problems, such as hands-free cold brew
dispense, hands-free water dispense and POUR'D draft
coffee systems. He believes that for office coffee/vending
providers, the challenge right now is balancing the need
for investment in equipment that enables clients to return
to workplace break rooms in a COVID-safe manner while
operating with severely impacted revenue. Dudley recognized this challenge early on and got creative, pushing for
more hands-free offerings.

http://www.Vendweb.com http://www.Vendweb.com

Automatic Merchandiser

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automatic Merchandiser