SACRAMENTO, Calif. — DBI Beverage Inc., corporate parent of a consolidated group comprising one of the largest beverage distributors in California and in the country, has named Paul M. Schmitt as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2019. Schmitt is presently the company’s Chief Operating Officer. He will succeed Mark D. Ramer on January 1, who will remain as Chief Strategy Officer and a member of the DBI Board of Directors. David B. Ingram continues as Chairman.
Schmitt, a 24 year beer industry veteran, has been Chief Operating Officer of the DBI companies since July of 2016. During the four years prior to his tenure at DBI, Schmitt served as Senior Director of Sales and Marketing at Coors Distributing Company (CDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MillerCoors LLC in Denver. Schmitt’s prior industry experience also includes four years as General Manager of the Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming Management Unit of MillerCoors and, prior to formation of the MillerCoors joint venture, various positions of increasing responsibility at Coors Brewing Company. Schmitt started his beverage career with Pepsi.
“Paul Schmitt’s leadership of DBI’s sales, marketing, business development, and supplier relationships has prepared him well for taking on the CEO position,” said David Ingram. “Since joining DBI two years ago, Paul has been a key part of restructuring DBI’s go-to-market strategies and improving product profitability. We look forward to maintaining this momentum under Paul’s leadership starting in 2019.”
Ramer has been with the DBI companies since their inception in 2002, serving as Chief Operating Officer prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2015. Prior to COO, Ramer served as DBI’s Chief Information Officer (CIO). “Mark has been key to the rapid and profitable growth of the DBI Beverage group over its entire history. His leadership as CEO has been instrumental in transforming DBI’s nine acquired operating units into a more unified company, with a common culture and focus on becoming northern California’s market leader,” remarked Ingram.
DBI Beverage Inc. and Ingram Entertainment Inc. are both owned by David Ingram and headquartered in La Vergne, Tennessee, outside of Nashville. Ingram founded DBI Beverage in 2002. Since then, DBI subsidiaries have acquired distributorships in nine California markets: Chico, Modesto, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, Truckee, and Ukiah. The DBI Beverage group anticipates on an annualized basis approximately $615 million in total revenues and distribution of approximately 29 million cases of beverage product. More information, including supplier and brand information, is available at www.dbibeverage.com