BrewDog USA Hires Sales and Marketing Execs

BrewDog USA, the Columbus, Ohio-headquartered offshoot of the Scottish craft beer maker, has added three new executives to its sales and marketing ranks, the company announced Monday.

The company has tapped Marc Venegoni as vice president of U.S. sales, Greg Salzenstein as western U.S. sales director, and Erika Wojno as U.S. director of marketing.

“We are thrilled to welcome top talent with extensive and varying industry experience to the BrewDog team,” BrewDog USA CEO Jason Block said in a press release. “Marc, Greg, and Erika each bring strong, unique skill sets that will help BrewDog continue to push the envelope with fresh and creative thinking across our business.”

All three new hires’ resumes include significant amounts of time at international beer manufacturers and some of the largest craft breweries in the country.

Venegoni comes to BrewDog after four years at Founders Brewing Company, where his most recent title was vice president of national accounts. He also spent four years at then-MillerCoors as a category manager, according to the release.

“In his new role as vice president of U.S. sales, he will be responsible for conceptualizing and instituting the sales strategies and targets to meet the brewery’s sales goals, as well as establishing and maintaining relationships with BrewDog’s growing distributor footprint in the U.S.,” the company said in the release.

Before joining BrewDog, Salzenstein spent two years at Denmark-headquartered brewer Royal Unibrew, where he oversaw national grocery and distributor partners throughout the company’s U.S. footprint. Salzenstein has also held sales roles with the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective and Anchor Brewers and Distillers.

Wojno worked at Goose Island, part of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Brewers Collective craft beer division, for a decade before joining BrewDog. At Goose Island, she “led brand strategy, built an innovation series, worked with distributors, and more,” according to the release. Her role existed at BrewDog but was on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson for the company told Brewbound. Wojno will be “responsible for raising the brand’s awareness in the U.S. and supporting distribution channel growth,” according to the release.

BrewDog is preparing to expand distribution west of Texas, and Salzenstein’s role was created for that purpose. He will report to Vengoni, whose role is also newly created.

The Scottish beer company established roots in the U.S. in 2017 and has since added new distribution markets and opened seven taprooms. Last year, its production volume increased 44%, to 62,542 barrels of beer, according to the Brewers Association. Through August, the company’s 2021 volume has increased 15% over last year, to more than 48,000 barrels sold thus far, a spokesperson said.

In addition to its five taprooms Ohio (two in Columbus, one each in Cincinnati, Canal Winchester and New Albany); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Indianapolis, Indiana, BrewDog has plans for new bars in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Cleveland.