Cristina Desmond
President, Central U.S. Region
Cristina Desmond has been appointed Regional President, Central U.S. Effective June 1, Cristina will be responsible for all aspects of market and business operations performance, including growth strategies for our supplier and customer partners, for the Central U.S. Region, including Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Cristina is a highly versatile leader with a proven track record in achieving the business objectives of Breakthru’s partners and in challenging and empowering her associates with a focus on their continued growth and development. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Cristina joined Charmer Sunbelt in 2002 and has held various roles with increasing responsibility with a focus in commercial sales, strategic planning, trade marketing and sales execution. Most recently, she served as Market EVP for Breakthru Pennsylvania where she was responsible for all market performance and business operations. Prior to that, Cristina 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, driving deeper channel and customer focus, along with enhanced trade marketing, pricing management and e-tailing while leveraging increased data and analytics. She also held the role of Vice President, Marketing, Retail Sales & Promotions from 2013-2019, leading commercial retail sales, marketing, headquarter chain and control sales with great success, outpacing the market channel growth.
Cristina brings her demonstrated passion for people development, culture building and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to bear in all her leadership roles and to the benefit of her team and colleagues.
Cristina received a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Temple University and completed the Women in Leadership Executive Education Program at Columbia Business School. She is a mentor with Breakthru’s Mentorship Program and a longtime supporter of the Central PA Food Bank and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Cristina currently resides in Chester Springs, PA, with her husband and two sons and their chocolate lab, Berger. She and her family will be relocating to Illinois.
David Lockie
Executive Vice President, Illinois
David Lockie serves as Executive Vice President of Breakthru Illinois, leading the company’s operations in Illinois and Tenzing. In this role, he drives the Illinois strategy and aligns priorities with the company's corporate and strategic vision.
David is a seasoned leader with more than 30 years of industry experience. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Wirtz Beverage Illinois and Minnesota. There he successfully led sales strategies including planning, implementation, measurement and supplier acquisition, and was also responsible for the company’s joint venture in Iowa.
Prior to joining Wirtz Beverage, David served as President of Glazer’s Illinois, managing the company’s portfolio on a statewide basis. His experience also includes a tenure as President of Johnson Brothers of Illinois. David is a seasoned integration and change management leader.
He began his career with Romano Brothers, eventually transitioning to E&J Gallo Winery. At Gallo, David was the Midwest and Mid-Central Division manager of the company, overseeing execution of Gallo’s retail programming and brand standards in each of the respective regions.
David is a graduate of DePauw University.
Michael Shiffer
Vice President, Sales, Wine, Illinois
As Vice President of the Avant & Premier Division, Shiffer’s team is responsible for driving sales performance of all Breakthru Beverage IL suppliers in some of the most specialized accounts in the state. He is also tasked with properly aligning with Trade Development and building long-lasting relationships with customers and suppliers.
Prior to this role, he served as Director of the Horizon Division for Wirtz Beverage IL, where he led the team to peak performance year-over-year. The Horizon Division covers Chicagoland, Heartland and encompasses several teams that represent all WBI suppliers.
Prior to his time with Wirtz Beverage, Shiffer spent time with multiple distributors as well as the E&J Gallo Winery, where we worked as Field Marketing Manager, Division Manager and Director of Customer Development.
Shiffer began his career in the alcohol beverage industry immediately after graduating from the University of Iowa.