— Five New Culinary and Beverage Professionals Start April 1 in Key Markets —
NAPA VALLEY, CA (April 6, 2021) — The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley, a leading supplier of premium frozen fruit purées, zests and specialty blends, introduces five new food and beverage professionals to its team of national brand ambassadors under the direction of Gayol Management in Los Angeles. The five new brand ambassadors started April 1 in the key national markets of Chicago; Los Angeles/San Diego; New York; Denver; and Dallas. They join two returning brand ambassadors in Las Vegas and Phoenix/Scottsdale.
Gayol Management was founded in March 2021 as an idea-driven business growth platform for food and beverage brands. It will act as the face of The Perfect Purée to organize the brand ambassador team’s promotional strategies in each market and help The Perfect Purée expand its team to Miami, Seattle and Portland in 2021.
The larger team broadens The Perfect’s Purée’s exposure through on-site recipe development that demonstrates The Perfect Purée’s just-picked flavor and flawless consistency in drinks, desserts and more. Each new brand ambassador puts energy, enthusiasm and valuable professional networking on the ground with restaurant operators in seven of the country’s most vibrant hospitality hubs.
The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley Co-President Michele Lex says, “The Perfect Purée’s expanded team of experienced and enthusiastic brand ambassadors will give its products added exposure as a staple of exceptional recipes coast-to-coast.”
Chicago Brand Ambassador Toni Roberts is the executive pastry chef at State and Lake Chicago Tavern and the Wit Hotel and one of Chicago’s most sought-after pastry chefs. Toni’s accolades include a Jean Banchet Award for Culinary Excellence for Rising Star Pastry Chef; the Best Dessert Menu award by Pastryscoop.com; and TimeOut Chicago’s selection of her dessert as one of the “100 Best We Ate This Year.”
Los Angeles/San Diego Brand Ambassador Tobias Cornelius Schopf is a strategy-driven brand and market specialist and event host with more than 10 years’ experience in the distilled spirits and liquor industry. Representing brands as diverse as Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirits, Monkey Shoulder and Hendrick’s Gin, Tobias leverages his enormous industry connections to create sales opportunities, consumer loyalty and trade advocacy. Tobias grew up in Germany’s second biggest city, Hamburg, where he entered the hospitality industry as one of Red Bull’s first promotional associates.
New York City Brand Ambassador Marcelo Chasi is a Barman Academy ambassador and a USA Bar and Restaurant consultant. Marcelo has 16 years’ experience in the food and beverage industry working alongside notable chefs including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Michael White and Tom Colicchio. He has spent 10 years behind the bar, most recently in New York as a bartender and manager at the Flatiron Lounge and a bartender at Bathtub Gin. For the past three years, he’s worked on the brand side representing companies including Bacardi and Pisco Caravedo as metro New York sales manager.
Denver Brand Ambassador Anthony Castellon is a chef at Boulder’s highly-rated Blackbelly Market, a rustic restaurant and Old World-style butcher shop founded by 2009 Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg. Blackbelly Market’s focus on the highest-quality seasonal farm-to-table meats and produce has shaped Anthony’s philosophy, teaching him the importance of sustainability and responsible sourcing.
Dallas Brand Ambassador Larry Lewis manages The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center and serves as manager of meal services at The Stewpot, a homeless outreach and enrichment center. Larry is the former general manager of Local Traveler in East Dallas and spent five years as the beverage director for Meddlesome Moth. During the pandemic, he switched trajectories in the restaurant industry to handle the food that restaurants donate to homeless shelters, a job that helps him maintain and grow his restaurant industry connections while helping people in need.
Las Vegas Brand Ambassador Tim Rita is a mixology and beverage consultant representing well-known portfolios such as Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirits and E. & J. Gallo Winery & Spirits. Tim also leads the Craft Ice Program for the VIP bars at the Las Vegas T Mobile Arena. Originally from Honolulu, Tim is a decorated cocktail competition player with years of classical bar and culinary experience. Tim’s distinctions include being named one of Beverage Media Group’s 10 Bartenders to Watch in 2014.
Phoenix/Scottsdale Brand Ambassador Renee Harper is the bar manager at Valley Bar Phoenix, a downtown music venue. She develops drinks and coordinates large-scale bar production for the Phoenix cocktail catering company Rattle & Rum and designs event cocktail menus for the Phoenix music production company Relentless Beats. Renee has worked for top industry professionals including Alice Waters in Berkeley and chefs Chris Curtiss, Greg LaPrad and Dustin Christofolo in Phoenix.
About The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley
Since 1988, The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley has indulged the culinary passions of chefs, mixologists and food enthusiasts with products that provide ultimate fresh fruit flavor without the peeling, dicing and simmering required for making purées from scratch.
The company’s line-up of fruit purées, specialties and blends features 30-plus premium flavors, ranging from pantry staples raspberry, strawberry and banana to the tropical lychee, passion fruit and pink guava. The fruits are harvested at the peak of season, puréed and packed frozen to maintain optimal freshness, flavor and color no matter what the season. As the leading U.S. producer of premium fruit purées, The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley is revered in restaurants, hotels, bars, bakeries and catering kitchens for the just-picked taste and unmatched consistency of its products.
All flavors can be frozen for up to 24 months from date of manufacture. When thawed, the purées, concentrates and specialties last 7-10 days in the refrigerator, and blends for 21 days.
Foodservice and beverage professionals may request a complimentary sample kit at: https://perfectpuree.com/foodservice/complimentary-samples/
For more information, please visit www.perfectpuree.com or follow on Instagram or Facebook @theperfectpuree.
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