Welcome To

Breakthru Beverage Minnesota

Operating since 1956, Breakthru Beverage Minnesota is one of the state’s oldest distributors. The company combines decades of experience, award-winning route-to-market strategy, innovative technologies and a knowledgeable salesforce to lead the marketplace in the representation of world-class brands.

Formerly known as: Wirtz Beverage Minnesota


We take pride in delivering our customers innovative solutions to help them build their businesses, and we are able to meet their unique needs because we have a best-in-class workforce of talented and nimble associates, we offer a diverse range of brands from the industry’s leading suppliers, and we consistently achieve operational excellence through strategic planning and our state-of-the-art facilities.

To meet the demands of the ever-evolving eCommerce landscape and provide our customers with a immersive and intuitive digital solution, we have launched BREAKTHRU NOW, our proprietary eCommerce platform. BREAKTHRU NOW provides customers with 24/7 access to our full product portfolio including real-time pricing and deals, detailed product information, and tools to help them manage their businesses anytime, anywhere.

Visit BREAKTHRU NOW

 

Leadership

The Breakthru MN leadership team supports the company's core operations and strategic vision.

Close Cristina Desmond Portrait

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.

Derek Holmes
Executive Vice President

Tara Marohl

Tara Marohl
Vice President of Off-Premise Sales, Wine & Spirits

Jeff Clarner

Jeff Clarner
Vice President, Beer

Our Brands

 

This catalog does not reflect inventory or availability. Please reach out to your BBG sales consultant or local office for more information.

 

Become a Customer

Backed with a portfolio that is unrivaled, Breakthru Beverage is proud to call the industry’s elite suppliers our partners. Investments in facilities, technologies and our people ensure best-in-class service of the brands you want, when you need them. Learn more about how we can do business together.

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