Welcome To

Breakthru Beverage Canada

With operations in Canada starting in 2014, Breakthru Beverage, formerly known as Wirtz Beverage, expanded to an international footprint becoming the exclusive broker for Diageo spirits and beer brands throughout the country. The Breakthru Beverage team is made up of a sales force who are equipped with advanced brand knowledge and industry leading selling resources in order to drive Diageo’s market share at the local level. Breakthru Beverage has been in operations for nearly a century in the United States and has brought to its Canada operations a vast amount of resources, including a proprietary training and development platform, market analytics, the latest technology, and renowned category expertise with the Diageo Reserve team. Breakthru Beverage works closely with provincial and territorial government authorities and independent retailers to consult on how they can grow their businesses with the great brands that Diageo has to offer.

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Breakthru Canada Wine and Craft Spirits

Leadership

Supporting the company's core operations and strategic vision is the Breakthru Beverage leadership team.

Sam David
Executive Vice President

Sam David

Executive Vice President

Responsible for all aspects of the Canadian market is Sam David, who previously held the role of Vice President of Finance for Breakthru Beverage Canada. He has vast experience in the Canadian market and has been a part of the Canadian executive leadership team for eight years. As the Vice President of Finance, he provided insights and recommendations for strategic decision making and partnered with executive leadership to deliver overall business performance. Prior to joining Breakthru, Sam served in progressive leadership roles with Diageo Canada and as Recipe Unlimited.

Lorraine Ventresca
Vice President Sales, Canada

Lorraine Ventresca

Vice President Sales, Canada

Leading the Canadian Sales Team is Lorraine Ventresca, formerly the Regional Vice President of Sales, Ontario, and National Trade Director for Breakthru Beverage Canada. Previous to her roles within Breakthru Beverage Canada Lorraine held various positions at Diageo Canada. During her 18 years tenure she led various teams in her capacity as Director, Sales Capability and Development, Director Customer Marketing, Director Pricing and Category Management. Her broad cross functional knowledge makes Lorraine well equipped to manage and lead the Canadian Sales team.

Ryan Hannah
Vice President, Wine & Craft Spirits

Lindsay St. Jean
Vice President, Trade Development

Lindsay St. Jean

Vice President, Trade Development

Lindsay St Jean is the Vice President of Trade Development - Canada.

Previous to her role within Breakthru Beverage Lindsay gained diverse experience in brand marketing, trade marketing, on-premise chain account management and national sales, holding various leadership positions within the industry at Diageo Canada, Modelo Molson Imports, AB InBev - Labatt and Pernod Ricard - Corby. During her 14 years she has led National teams as National Commercial Manager, Sr. Manager National Accounts, Sr. Manager Trade Marketing and Director On-premise Strategic Channel Development. Her cross functional leadership experience makes Lindsay well equipped to execute the trade strategy.

In addition, she was co-chair for one of Breakthru’s first associate resource groups 2021-2022, Women Who Breakthru – a community designed to create a space of representation, inclusion, and support for women to engage and grow.

Lindsay is extremely passionate about authentic mentorship and spends her spare time coaching women in the industry through career advancement as well as connecting her network with top talent who have migrated to Canada from abroad.

Kermit Grant
Vice President, Human Resources

Kermit Grant

Vice President, Human Resources

Leading the Company’s people agenda, Kermit is a seasoned Human Resource Professional with over 18 years HR experience . He joined the Breakthru Beverage team from Diageo Canada where he provided HR Business Partner services for the sales and marketing team across the country.

Ian Buchanan
Senior Director of Business Analytics

Ian Buchanan

Senior Director of Business Analytics

Ian Buchanan joined Breakthru Beverage after his successful tenure at Brown-Forman Canada as their commercial business manager. He has already built a long career in the alcohol industry, having served in various positions for more than 12 years at Corby Distilleries, including commercial insights manager and manager of business analysis. His strong passion for analytics and solid experience as a commercial leader make him an invaluable part of the culture at Breakthru Beverage Canada. Outside of the office, Buchanan is an active volleyball player and an avid runner who has completed four marathons.

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Wesley Kwong
Senior Director of LL&S

Wesley Kwong

Senior Director of LL&S

Leading the Learning, Leadership and Sales Solution department is Wesley Kwong. Previous to joining Breakthru Beverage Canada, he held various positions at E&J Gallo Winery Canada Ltd. During his 11 years in the industry he has led numerous teams in a variety of roles, while managing the Barefoot Wine & Bubbly brands across Canada. His broad experience working cross functionally with internal and external stakeholders across a global organization makes him well equipped to lead the Learning, Leadership and Sales Solution team in Canada.

Priyanka Parekh
Vice President, Finance

Priyanka Parekh

Vice President, Finance

Leading Breakthru Beverage Canada's finance organization is Priyanka Parekh with over 15 years of experience in corporate finance and accounting. She is responsible for driving strategic and financially sound decisions while ensuring financial integrity for the Canadian business. Prior to joining Breakthru, Priyanka held various finance and accounting leadership roles with global CPG companies such as Kraft Foods, Mondelez International, Weston Foods and Goodfood Market. Priyanka is passionate about creating high performing and highly engaged teams with a continuous improvement mindset to deliver consistent best-in-class performance. Priyanka is a Business Administration graduate from the University of Toronto and a CPA with Chartered Professional Accountants Canada.

Charles L’Ecuyer
Region Vice President, East

Charles L’Ecuyer

Region Vice President, East

Charles leads the Quebec and Atlantic teams that compose the East region. He joined Breakthru Beverage Canada at its inception in 2014. Charles has +20 years in the beverage industry, being in the hospitality before joining Breakthru. He possesses cross-functional leadership experience from his past roles: Key Account Manager, District Manager, Learning & Development Manager & Sommelier. Holder of a Bachelor in Economy & Politics at Laval University and an MBA at UQAM, he is a solution-oriented individual, who thrives human-connection and is eager to deliver consistent execution with his team.

Gareth King
Regional Vice President, Ontario

Gareth King

Regional Vice President, Ontario

Leading the Ontario sales region is Gareth King. Prior to his role within Breakthru Beverage Canada, Gareth held various positions in the industry both here in Canada with Diageo, Bacardi and Sleeman Breweries and in the UK with Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands and various on-premise operators. With over 15 year’s experience, he has led large commercial teams and successfully managed large customers including the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). Holding positions of National Account Manager, Business Development Manager, Key account Manager, Sales Director and Performance Management Director, he has a wealth of cross functional leadership experience that means Gareth is well equipped to manage and lead the largest region in Canada.

Jay Osier
Regional Vice President (West)

Jay Osier

Regional Vice President (West)

Jay is a determined leader with over 15 years of beverage alcohol experience who is passionate about working with his team to solve problems and influence people.

Prior to joining us in 2014, he held various commercial roles with Anheuser-Busch InBev and Modelo Molson Imports.

Jay holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Victoria.

Our Brands

With an unrivaled portfolio, we support the sale of Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, Guinness, Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck.