New regional structure to drive performance and consistency across the business
April 25, 2023 – Today, Breakthru Beverage Group announced that Will Fulghom, Cristina Desmond and Jeremy Tostrup have been tapped to lead the company’s East, Central and West Regions, respectively. The evolved regional structure follows Breakthru’s recent acquisition of Wine Warehouse and its entry into the California market. Each leader will be responsible for ensuring coordination and consistency across the footprint, driving business performance and growth strategies in their regions, and will report directly to Chief Operating Officer Julian Burzynski.
“We are confident this expanded structure and team of exceptional leaders position us to fully capitalize on our business and operating model while accelerating performance for the company and our partners,” said Burzynski. “Will, Cristina and Jeremy each bring a forward thinking and relationship-driven approach that balances collaboration and innovation. Above all, they share a deep commitment to our growth strategy and are the foundation of our scalable model to being a top performing distributor on behalf of our partners in all our markets.”
The company’s four-region structure provides market leaders the functional support they need to create a consistent and efficient partner experience while enabling local decision-making and P&L control to maximize service. Corporate functions, including the National Accounts and Supplier Business Development teams, for example overlay the work that is done locally with additional levels of engagement to support the business. The region breakdown by market includes:
- Will Fulghom, Region President, East U.S. (MD, DC, DE, FL, SC, VA, PA)
- Cristina Desmond, Region President, Central U.S. (IL, WI, MN, MO)
- Jeremy Tostrup, Region President, West U.S. (AZ, CO, NV, CA)
- Sam David, Executive Vice President, Canada
“Breakthru isn’t slowing down. We intend to continue to invest and grow, and to do that, we need to evolve our business model to drive a more scalable, consistent structure,” added Burzynski. “This revamped regional structure and our talented Region Presidents will allow us to do just that, making us a stronger partner to our associates, communities, customers and suppliers.”
Fulghom, Desmond and Tostrup, all new to their roles, will focus on driving the company’s strategic vision and all aspects of the business that support that vision. Breakthru aims to be the distributor of choice across its footprint and the easiest distribution partner to work with and is aggressively advancing the company in a consumer-focused and digital world. Through automation, standardization and consistency of capabilities, the company is committed to driving partner performance and success.
Fulghom joins Breakthru from Sysco where most recently he served as Region President for the North Florida Region, the company’s largest region both geographically and in sales revenue. Will is a proven leader with vast experience in large-scale business operations, consistently increasing revenue and profitability while expanding territory penetration, improving service levels, driving process optimization, and leading high-performing teams with a keen focus on growth and development. He was recognized with a Sysco GEM Award for his successful efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion, having successfully built out the first DE&I program for his region.
Desmond brings over 20 years of industry experience with Breakthru and its legacy companies. Most recently, she served as Market EVP for Breakthru Pennsylvania where she was responsible for all market performance and business operations. Prior to that, she served as Vice President, National Accounts Retail, where she managed a large team of national account directors to develop and execute growth strategies with supplier partners and customers.
Tostrup has worked with Breakthru and its legacy companies for more than 20 years, serving as Director of Training and Development, Division Manager for On Premise and Mountains, and Off Premise Division Manager for the company’s United Division. Since 2016, he has served as EVP, Colorado, overseeing the market’s strong wine, spirit and beer business.
About Breakthru Beverage Group
Breakthru Beverage Group is one of the leading alcohol wholesalers in the United States and the largest broker in Canada representing a full total beverage alcohol portfolio of spirits, wine and beer. Breakthru is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and supports a wide range of notable organizations as well as local charitable initiatives across its North American footprint. Across all markets, Breakthru aligns a nimble and insightful approach to sales, marketing and operations. Family ownership is active in the business and committed to being stewards of heritage and champions of innovation. For more information, visit www.BreakthruBev.com.
