Andrew Chason

Andrew Chason is Head of CAA’s Culinary Department, which represents many of the world’s most influential chefs and tastemakers, including Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez, Martha Stewart, Carla Hall, Roy Choi, Christina Tosi, Grant Achatz, Katie Lee, Ted Allen, and Curtis Stone.  Additionally, CAA Culinary leverages it’s deep relationships and influence to create and produce buzz-worthy food-forward experiences on behalf of corporate brands, as well as advising brands on how to tap into the power of food culture as a way to engage consumers and drive business results.

A 20-year lifestyle marketing veteran, Chason works across CAA to create culinary-entertainment business opportunities for talent and brand clients in the areas of television, marketing, events, digital media, sponsorship, and corporate hospitality.  Prior to joining CAA, Chason co-founded Vector Eats, specializing in managing the careers of high-profile culinary personalities. 

Chason graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree from the prestigious Sport Management program at the Isenberg School of Management.

Brett Friedman

Brett Friedman, is the co-founder & Managing Partner of Agency 21 Consulting (a21), a Miami and New York based Experiential Marketing firm that specializes in Event Management, Production, Corporate Sponsorship, Strategic Marketing and Brand Consulting. a21’s primary focus is to assist clients, partners, companies and non-profit organizations create and manage dynamic special events, while achieving maximum return on investment for corporate sponsors.  Founded in 2006, a21 has developed into the preeminent culinary event management agency in North America, producing 100’s of events in 27 markets. Some of the agencies more marquee clients include: Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Food Network NYC Wine and Food Festival, Cochon555, Americas Test Kitchen, Shake Shack, Gurneys, Dan’s Taste of Summer, Nirvana at Sanctuary and the Palm Beach Food and Wine. With 24 diverse employees located throughout five (5) cities, a21 continues to grow through a client first approach, with a keen methodology towards maximizing profitability. 

Prior to establishing a21, Brett was the Vice President of Development for Alonzo Mourning Charities (AMC), a non-profit organization founded by retired Miami Heat All-Star Center, Alonzo Mourning. During Brett’s tenure at AMC and prior to his departure after 4 years, AMC’s flagship event, Zo’s Summer Groove, was widely considered one of the preeminent celebrity charity events in the country.

Brett has also worked with Knight Ridder (KNR), formally the 2nd largest Media Publishing Company in the world and parent company of the Miami Herald, in their Shared Services Division. Brett was the youngest employee in the division, by 13 years and was responsible for managing three (3) sub-divisions: Telecommunications, Office Administration and Circulation with the main task of negotiating multi-million dollar national contracts for all of the 32 KNR subsidiaries.  Brett was also the Knight Ridder representative for the Media Consortium, a media buying consortium between Dow Jones, Knight Ridder, The New York Times and Conde Nast.

Brett graduated from the University of Florida in 1998 with a Degree in Business Administration and later went to Nova Southeastern to obtain his Masters Degree in Finance, graduating with honors. While obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree at University of Florida, Brett co-created an online Internet coupon company, CampusQpons.com, with his college roommate at the age of 21. CampusQpons.com later became FunU.com, which was an online college website that was localized to each University throughout the Southeast. The site focused on providing college students pertinent information about their schools and lives by acting as a search engine and provided online coupons and information about the popular bar/dining scene. The site successfully raised three (3) rounds of financing, with several million dollars from various Venture Capital firms, twelve (12) full-time employees and fifty (50) local college representatives at the Company’s height.

Brett is fortunate to call himself a third generation Miamian who is married to Genevieve Lake-Friedman and the proud father of his ten year old son, Jake Friedman.

Brady Lowe

Today's episode features Brady Lowe, founder of Taste Network and Cochon 555. Taste Network began in 2002, Cochon555 in 2008 and Brady created anchor celebrations at The Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Toronto Food & Wine Festival and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The portfolio includes the ground-up creation and cultivation of the festivals: Rioja Wine & Tapas Festival, PeachFest and Mags For Ag; in addition to hosting Kosta Browne’s 20th Anniversary Party that raised over $100,000 for local charities. The mission is simple: Further the conversation of heritage breeds and support family farms on dinner tables worldwide, all to campaign for those championing agricultures with purpose and passion while educating influencers, chefs and buyers on how to sustain small business owners stewarding responsible growing practice.

Brady Lowe is a respected authority of fine wine, artisan foods, premier foods, heritage breed pigs and experiential events. He has producing exceptional food events since 2003. It was then, while working in Atlanta at the dawn of the good food movement, that Lowe was amongst the first to unite boutique wines and hard-to-find cheeses for affluent audiences. One taste pairing in particular sparked an ‘out of body experience’ in a customer that Lowe would never forget. At that moment, he devoted himself to transcending the boundaries of the food world, to creating unique combinations, not just with ingredients but among people. Now a food educator and taste influencer, Lowe is passionate about reaching individuals with a social conscience to support a responsible community of local chefs, butchers, winemakers and farmers that we all depend on.

Lowe grew up in Iowa reading the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series and his mother’s collection of cookbooks; books that would influence the narrative of his culinary future. At University of Iowa, he studied communications and marketing. Upon graduating, he moved to Atlanta and stepped into the world of fine dining. While selling cigars at the height of the burgeoning cigar culture, he discovered there was a unique vernacular to cigars, a flavor vocabulary that he enjoyed learning and sharing. The ideas translated naturally to other disciplines he wanted to study, those of wine, cheese, chocolate and cuisine.

After getting his 90 points of service in hospitality fine-tuned at Atlanta’s premier restaurant group in 2002, his appetite for the larger food movement blossomed and Lowe started hosting larger tasting events for private clients and notable members of the Atlanta food community under Taste Network. Three years later in 2008, he launched Cochon555, a 16-city culinary tour showcasing five chefs, five pigs and five winemakers in a friendly competition to promote heritage breed pig diversity and whole animal utilization. In 2010, Cochon555 teamed up with Food + Wine Magazine as an Official Event of the Food + Wine Classic in Aspen, Grand Cochon became one of the most talked about events of the weekend. What started as 250 million impressions in the media annually has grown to over 1 billion impression in the top media channels worldwide. Now ‘heritage pig is big,’ and Cochon555 is the most talked about culinary competition in North America featuring 100% heritage breed pigs. In 2011, the tour continued to expand with the addition of Heritage Fire, a tribute event to fire cooking and butchery, and later that year was summoned to host the opening festivities for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with the debut of All-Star Cochon, the first ever non-competition event featuring fan favorites and best bites. In 2012, Cochon555 expanded again to release Heritage BBQ, an event dedicated to expose commodity BBQ restaurants and celebrate chefs cooking on community based-platforms that support local family farms. Cochon Island was developed to bring awareness to water-locked food ecosystems like Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Naeemah Leonard

Senior Brand Manager, Cultural Strategy & Events at Rémy Martin, Naeemah Leonard is responsible for cultivating strategic collaborations with media, influencers, celebrities, and other partners across relevant cultural pillars: music, film, fashion, culinary, and sports. Additionally, Naeemah spearheads the “Producer Series”, a national music platform which highlights the art of making music. Debuting in its 5th season, the program is designed to discover and celebrate emerging music producers. Through the strength of her relationships, her innovative thinking, passion, and dedication to building relevant marketing initiatives, Naeemah has shaped and shifted brand strategy at Rémy Martin. Her contributions have consistently championed the Rémy Martin portfolio on its journey to becoming the world leader in exceptional spirits.

Charles Duque

Charles Duque is currently Managing Director, Americas for CNIEL based in New York, NY.  He also oversees the French Cheese Board, a retail and event space for promoting French cheeses in New York City.

For over two years, Charles’ main objective is to serve as the point of contact for the French cheese companies in the American continent and inform them of actions to promote their products as well as working with implementing agencies executing information provision and promotion measures in the USA and Brazil.

Previously, Charles worked for Savencia Fromage & Dairy, which is among the world’s leading milk processors, the No. 2 cheese group in France and the No. 5 worldwide, where he implemented a retail concept with US based supermarket chains to support quality cheeses.

Charles’ previous experiences took him to San Francisco to open the US subsidiary of Richart Chocolates and as the Director of the AgroTech sector of BusinessFrance: The French Trade Office helped over 300 French companies enter the U.S. market to do business.

Charles is a member of The Order of Agricultural Merit; an order bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contribution to agriculture and an inductee in the International Cheese Guild.  Charles is fluent in four languages especially in cheese!

Sara Kotcher

Sara Kotcher currently serves as the manager of Culinary Programming & Business Development for KAABOO LLC. She handles the talent buying for the PALATE Stage, featuring nationally acclaimed chefs. She has grown KAABOO’s culinary vendor and talent program from a small portion to a major amenity of this show. KAABOO currently has three music festivals annually, in San Diego, Grand Cayman Islands, and Dallas. KAABOO is a new kind of entertainment and arts experience designed around comfort and hospitality. It is uniquely curated to appeal to those who do not want to sacrifice comfort for a great all around experience. She graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in Psychology, and previously worked for Bullfrog & Baum, a high-end hospitality communications firm in New York City. She currently resides in New York City.

Adam Hanft

This week Lonny speaks with Adam Hanft, CEO of Hanft Projects, a globally-known expert in marketing strategy, branding and messaging; he is also a prolific cultural critic and journalist. This combination of skills and experiences represents the confluence of disciplines that define the future of marketing.

Adam sits on the board of two public companies, Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) and 1800Flowers (NASDAQ: FLWS); he also has a non-Board role at SMG as Chief Brand and Creative Adviser .

In addition, Adam sits on the board of two private companies – Sensory Cloud, a pioneer in the application of olfaction technology to the hospitality and wellness, and Parallax, an early-stage life sciences company focused on the development of safe nicotine delivery systems.

Adam is an active angel investor and served on the advisory boards of start-ups in agtech, cybersecurity, AI, fintech, foodtech and HRtech. Included among them are Hampton Creek (now JUST) who is valued at unicorn status for their plant-based food innovation and HiBob, which has been called the most revolutionary start-up in the HR space.

The range of well-established companies and start-ups where Adam has contributed strategic insights and creative leadership attest to the range of his talents. They extend from WeWork to Match.com and Tinder, to TAE Energy – a pioneer in nuclear fusion who has raised nearly $1B– to McKinsey and Life Biosciences, the world’s leading company in longevity research.

Adam was an unpaid digital strategy consultant to President Obama’s 2008 campaign, and has been advising Yair Lapid, who is now running with Benny Gantz on the “Blue and White” ticket to lead Israel, and is leading in the polls.

Adam is co-author of “Dictionary of the Future,” a best-selling book that was described by “Wired” magazine as a “mimetic encyclopedia of what's to come, an engaging crash course in bleeding-edge ideas and debatable issues...it's an entertaining and enlightening trip."

Called a “marketing guru by U.S.A. Today, Adam had a successful career as an advertising agency founder; before selling the company and starting his consulting practice, Adam won over 100 major awards – including an EFFIE for effectiveness – and was responsible for creating the “Flick Your Bic” campaign, named one of the 50 greatest ad campaigns of all time by Entertainment Weekly

Commentaries written by Adam on a diverse range of subjects appear regularly in the Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, Fast Company, Atlantic, Slate and other publications. He is also a frequent commentator on public radio’s “Marketplace,” and has appeared on the “Today Show,” “The Daily Show,” CNBC, Fox News, and many other outlets. As an editor and contributor he has been on the masthead of five leading magazines, including “Worth” and “Inc.” – where he wrote the back-page column for five years – and “Civilization” – the magazine of the Library of Congress.

Adam began his career as a comedy writer for the legendary director Garry Marshall, writing scripts for “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley.”

Adam is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of New York University

Lana Trevisan

During this week’s episode, Lonny speaks with Lana Trevisan, Vice President of Restaurants, Bars and Nightlife for Two Roads Hospitality. She currently oversees 20 hotels and resorts, and has successfully opened several notable Two Roads properties, including Chicago Athletic Association, Thompson Playa Del Carmen and The Beekman. Prior to her tenure at Two Roads Hospitality, Trevisan was Corporate Food and Beverage Director of Gansevoort Hotel Group, where she managed all aspects of Food and Beverage operations at existing properties, as well as new projects under development. Trevisan served as the opening Director of Food & Beverage at Standard High Line Hotel NYC, and assisted on concept and development at Andre Balazs Properties. She managed pre-opening and daily operations at nine of the company’s outlets, including the Standard Grill, Boom Boom Room and The Biergarten. Trevisan also spent seven years with B.R. Guest as a Director of Operations/Partner, where she was responsible for the company’s daily operations and also oversaw opening ten restaurants, including Blue Fin, Blue Water Grill, Dos Caminos and Primehouse. Trevisan began her career with Wolfgang Puck, for which she opened and managed five restaurants in Las Vegas and Chicago, including Spago, Chinois, Lupo and Fiamma. Trevisan holds a B.A. in Hospitality Management from Hotel and Restaurant School at the Northern Arizona University.

DeLu Jackson

In this episode, Lonny speaks with DeLu Jackson, Vice President of Precision Marketing at Conagra Brands. DeLu leads the company’s marketing transformation and demand acceleration through increased data intelligence, agility, always-on content and dynamic measurement. He is responsible for various facets of integrated marketing for the organization, including design, advertising, media, e-commerce, agile content and consumer data.

DeLu has over 20 years of marketing experience with well-known consumer brands. Prior to joining Conagra Brands, he was vice president of digital acceleration for Kellogg Company and previously served as corporate vice president of global marketing at McDonald's Corporation where he led marketing, social media and customer engagement. DeLu has also served in leadership roles in marketing for Nissan, Audi, Subaru and Ford.

He grew up in Dallas and has lived in Princeton, NJ, St. Louis, Kansas City, New York City, Detroit, Philadelphia, Tokyo and now Chicago. He has been married to Anna for 13 years and has two daughters, Mia (12) and Harper (8), and one son, Nikko (5).

Matthew Lalin

This week's episode features Matthew Lalin, founder of starpower, an entertainment marketing agency that connects brands with entertainment, sport, music, fashion, beauty talent, influencers and content.

Matt launched starpower from the ground up with his long time colleague and friend Jared Weiss. By leveraging his extensive network of relationships, Matt created a trustworthy, dynamic and unique entertainment marketing agency that “flipped” the model on its head. After graduating from the University of Albany business school in 1998, Matt began his marketing career at Omnicom Group’s Steiner Sports where he rose to Executive Vice President before leaving in 2007 to launch starpower. with offices in New York and Los Angeles, starpower has global capabilities and is a trusted advisor to best in class brands and their partners in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Matt has conceived, negotiated and executed marketing campaigns for a world class roster of brands including Colgate-Palmolive, Diageo, Novo Nordisk, Nestle Waters, Bayer and JDRF. His over 15 years of experience, unwavering loyalty to his clients and his intuitive negotiation abilities have resulted in over 200mm worth of entertainment, music and sport partnerships.

Starpower is built on matthew’s passion for creating an innovative and fun agency culture which is based on loyalty, trust and a strong work ethic. Matt’s work hard, play hard philosophy drives starpower in both the boardroom and behind the scenes. This is evident by his far-reaching network which he views as friends and family at the top level of business, entertainment, music and sport.

Matt was a keynote speaker at the WTA Tour conference where he discussed “monetizing your personal brand” and has also counseled Hunter College students on entertainment marketing. He is highly respected in the industry and has been widely quoted and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Sports Illustrated, Sports Business Journal as well as on CNBC, CNN and ESPN.

Matt is equally passionate about life outside of work. Whether he is reading with his children, Scarlett and Mason, or engaging in entrepreneurial discussions with his wife Stephanie, who is an accomplished jewelry designer and founder of Jemma Wynne, Matt is a devoted family man. He is a board member of the JLS Foundation and also has a personal affiliation with breast cancer organizations.

Peter Flesvig

Lonny interviews Peter Flesvig, GM, The Culinary Group at Intersport. Peter leads Intersport’s culinary activation platform, inclusive of a multi-year partnership with the James Beard Foundation. Prior to Intersport, Peter’s career included a diverse set of consulting, strategy and sales roles in the CPG industry. Notably, that experience included 15+ years in sales and strategy with PepsiCo where he held executive leadership roles leading multiple customer teams. Peter is a graduate of DePaul University and resides in Chicago.

Jeff Fernandez

In this episode Lonny speaks with Jeff Fernandez, VP Corporate Partnerships and New Business Ventures with the New York Jets. In his 15th year with the Jets, Jeff is responsible for leading the partnership sales team that creates strategic corporate alliances, driving revenue for the organization and developing new business ventures and innovative projects that enhance Jets fan engagement. 

Fernandez previously served as director of marketing partnerships for the Buffalo Bills from 1999-2001 and at Huizenga Sports & Entertainment Group in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, from 1995-99, where he sold sponsorships for the Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers, Florida Marlins and SportsChannel Florida. Fernandez also served as vice president of marketing partnerships for Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 from 2001-03. 

Welcome to Food Connected!

Food Connected is an interview-style podcast hosted by Lonny Sweet, CEO of The Connect Group. Lonny will speak with executives on the brand, agency and influencer side who are leading the charge within the culinary marketing vertical to provide an in-depth look at how these talented individuals are leveraging the food connected consumer passion to drive their brand’s sales and marketing objectives forward.