What is your position in the coffee industry?

supplier

Where are you located? ( City and Country )

West Chester, PA

How many years have you been in the industry?

11

If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?

yes

Tell us more about your coffee shop or barista skills.

I helped Mars Incorporated launch its single-serve coffee/tea/hot chocolate brand (FLAVIA) into America in 1995. I helped setup our initial distributors, national accounts, ran marketing, setup our website and ecommerce sites, setup and ran our B2C business and currently involved in new business development. I have traveled to origin and helped develop many of the coffees in our range today : www.myflavia.com. Our HQ are in West Chester, PA

What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?

Guatemala, El Salvidor, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Ethiopia

About Me:

Frank LaRusso is Director of new business development at Mars Drinks (a Mars, Incorporated Company). He is responsible for all new market and channel development for Mars Drinks North America. Frank began his 17-year career with Mars, Incorporated in the M&M/MARS snack food group, where he held various positions in sales and marketing. He led the project team that analyzed the U.S. coffee market to determine the viability for Mars. As of result of this research, the company launched the FLAVIA® Beverage Systems business unit (now Mars Drinks) in 1995. Frank helped establish FLAVIA® Beverage Systems and the FLAVIA® brand in North America (in head of marketing roles) and helped cultivate the B2B distributor network, and e-commerce business within North America, which is the 4th division of Mars Incorporated.

Prior to joining FLAVIA® Beverage Systems, Frank began his career in the beverage industry as part of the UK project team that introduced Guinness Draught in a can to the U.S. Guinness Draught is now one of America’s best-selling canned beers.
Frank has an extensive marketing and management background and holds a BSBA from Boston University, an MBA from Drexel University and a Masters Degree from Cornell University in Management Development. An active member of the National Cofffee Association, currently sitting on the NCA Educational Committee; Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA); and Business Marketing Association (BMA); Frank is also the recipient of the Business Marketing Association’s Pro Com Award for best Business-to-Business Direct Marketing Campaign. He formerly served as president of the Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Frank lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife and daughter. He is involved with the American Red Cross as a disaster recovery volunteer and enjoys scuba diving, fly fishing, and composing and performing music- especially at church.

About My Company:

The FLAVIA® brand of Mars Drinks has been satisfying the individual tastes of coffee and tea drinkers for over 20 years (first brewer launched in 1984). FLAVIA was the first to introduce the Brew-by-Pack drink system to the home and office, and has the only single cup system with authentic cappuccino, mochaccino and chai latte. The FLAVIA filterpack technology is the only system that brews direct and pure from pack to cup. Since 1996, FLAVIA Beverage Systems has placed nearly 200,000 FLAVIA Drinks Stations in homes and offices with over 2 billion drinks served worldwide. FLAVIA® is a registered trademark of Mars, Incorporated, known for brands that include M&M's®, SNICKERS®, UNCLE BEN'S®. For more information and an online demonstration of the system and the patented filterpack technology, visit www.myflavia.com.

What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?

The passion of the people who want to find the best cup and best cup experience.

Website:

http://www.myflavia.com