Herb Smith is currently the vice president for off-premise customer development, category management and control states for the E. & J. Gallo Winery; he has been managing retail customers since January 2005. Smith's responsibilities include sales, category management and customer development for the top 100 retail customers in the U.S. In February 2018, Smith assumed full responsibility of control state management to include sales, category management and broker management.
Prior to his current position, Smith was the general manager of national account off-premise trade development, a position he held since January 2005. In that role, he managed trade development and sales for the top 25 national off-premise customers that sold Gallo products. From 1998 to 2005. Smith was the general manager of the Gallo Sales Company, a Bay-Area distributor of the E. & J. Gallo Winery, managing a 150-person organization that included warehouse, shipping, sales and management responsibilities. Smith started his career at the Gallo Wine Company where he held many different positions, including sales representative, district manager, area manager, chain division sales manager and Southern California field marketing manager.
Smith is involved in a variety of industry associations. He is currently a chairperson for The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Supplier Advisory Board as well as the Food Marketing Institute Industry Collaboration Council. He regularly attends the Western Association of Food Chains Convention as well as the Grocery Manufacturers of America Conference on which he serves on the sales committee. Along with E. & J. Gallo Winery, he has been a member of the California Grocers Association (CGA) and served as a director on the Board of the CGA from 2000 to 2006. In 2017, Smith was inducted into the Path to Purchase Institute Shopper Marketing Hall of Fame. He is a graduate of the California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo where he played Division II College Football for four years.
Session
Customer Trends and Insights Panel
Wednesday, March 27
9:15 to 10 a.m.
Moderator: Kevin Coupe, Author and Content Guy at MorningNewsBeat
Speakers:
- Don Fitzgerald, Former CEO at DOM's Kitchen & Market
- Don Sanderson, Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer at Meijer
- Herb Smith, Vice President Off-Premise Customer Development and Category Management at E. & J. Gallo Winery
- Dan Wandel, Senior Director Strategic Insights and Category Management at Mark Anthony Brands