Marketing, Sales & Distribution

Bringing THC beverages to market takes more than a great product. In this session, we’ll explore how brands position themselves, navigate retail and distribution channels, and build effective go-to-market strategies. Learn how producers are approaching branding, pricing, sales, and partnerships to stand out and grow in an increasingly competitive and regulated space.

Panelists include:
Julie Rhodes, Cofounder, Kick Fizz & Strategic Business Consultant, Not Your Hobby Marketing Julie Rhodes is a 20 plus-year veteran of the food and beverage industry, owning Not Your Hobby Marketing Solutions, a fractional consulting and educational services company, and a Co-Founder of Kick Fizz, a low-dose hemp-infused beverage brand. She specializes in beverage sales, digital marketing, distributor management, and business strategy, helping craft beverage brands work smarter, not harder. A sought-after speaker, business journalist, and instructor for multiple university programs, Julie was named the 2023 Brewers Association Mentor of the Year and serves on the BA Business Development Committee. She is also an active member of numerous trade associations and state-level guilds, as well as a lover of all things sci-fi and a former amateur league billiards player.

Brandon Rogers, CEO, PakTech Brandon Rogers is CEO of PakTech, a leader in sustainable multipack solutions trusted by craft brewers and beverage brands worldwide. Since becoming CEO in 2020, he has focused on advancing packaging that balances performance, efficiency, and circularity. As hemp beverages emerge as a fast-growing category, PakTech is helping brands navigate new challenges, including compliance and safety. Its latest innovation, PakLock, delivers a child-resistant solution purpose-built for HempBev. Brandon is passionate about helping beverage brands scale responsibly while building toward a more circular future.

Pat Campbell, Business Development Manager, Hart Print Pat Campbell is a Business Development Manager at Hart Print, leading the expansion of innovative digital printing on infinitely recyclable aluminum cans. With more than a decade in the craft beverage industry, his experience spans the full product lifecycle, from serving as a Lead Brewer and Production Manager overseeing brewing and packaging operations to specializing in beverage packaging for the past six years. His packaging expertise includes keg consulting at G4 Kegs, traditional offset and labeled can experience at CanCraft, and mobile canning operations with Iron Heart Canning Company. Today, Pat partners with producers across craft beer, wine, RTDs, hemp, and functional beverages to deliver customized, premium packaging solutions that elevate brand visibility through digital print technology.

Ted Whitney, Chief Beverage Officer, Cheech & Chong's Ted studied molecular biology in college and after a brief time working in research he began to focus on sales – sharing his passion for beverage with people all over the world. Ted spent nearly 20 years working in craft beer, developing some of the fastest growing brands in the country into significant forces in the beverage market. In 2017 he switched industries, joining the recreational cannabis market in California. There he worked in sales, operations and retail doing everything from running one of the largest extraction labs in CA to opening and staffing dispensaries while writing SOPs for their operations and compliance. The struggles of the regulated market in CA inspired Ted to gravitate towards the hemp industry and in 2022 he made the shift. Ted views hemp as the way to improve access to recreation and relief for millions of people while taking bites out of the illicit market, improving public safety, improving access to the market for suppliers and increasing state revenue from cannabinoids. He currently works as the Chief Beverage Officer for Cheech and Chong and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 400 member Hemp Beverage Alliance.

Isaac Arthur, Cofounder & CMO, CODO Design Isaac Arthur is a co-founder and CMO at CODO Design, an Indianapolis-based beer and beverage branding firm founded in 2009 on the belief that better work comes from including clients directly in the creative process.

CODO has branded or rebranded more than 100 breweries to date.

Isaac is the author of three books — The Craft Beer Branding Guide (2017), Craft Beer, Rebranded (2020) and The Beyond Beer Handbook (2022) — and writes the monthly Beer Branding Trends newsletter for more than 10,000 subscribers. He also co-hosts a podcast by the same name, where he explores the art and science of building stronger beverage brands.

*Jamie Bogner, Cofounder + Editorial Director, *Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® **