Have you ever heard the saying that goes something like “when you get older…don’t meet the people you looked up to when younger because they’ll surely disappoint”? Well…way back (about two decades ago at this point) when I was working towards my undergraduate and MBA degrees, professors would obviously cite contemporary business events to clearly connect academic lessons with real world applications. But specifically, I vividly remember marketing professors discussing aspects of the Super Bowl beer ads and my corporate finance and strategy professors extracting insights from the mega merger between (and subsequent integration of) Anheuser-Busch and InBev. And there’s a common thread between those two core memories. Until the recording of this podcast episode, I had not met Dave Peacock…but analyzed many of his decisions in the late-2000s and early-2010s when he led marketing and then became President of Anheuser-Busch, which likely subconsciously helped construct the foundation of my unique strategic perspective surrounding the CPG industry. And since the meeting happened spontaneously…you’ll notice I was in “listen mode” more than I’m normally within these conversational content pieces. And it’s probably because, unlike that saying…the stories and insights shared by Dave Peacock, from his time at Anheuser-Busch and the grocery store Schnuck Markets to currently at Advantage Solutions, did not disappoint at all.

Follow - Pour Decisions PodcastAlso, an extra special thanks to Cognizin, for not only being the Title Sponsor of The Beverage Forum 2025...but supporting this awesome piece of content!