Justin Koury has spent more than 25 years in the culinary, wine, whiskey, hospitality, and consulting world. He has an MBA with a focus in Hospitality Tourism. His website, Wizard Of Whiskey, has covered the wine and spirits industry with a podcast since 2012. Justin is completing his American Whiskey Book with over 1000 whiskies tasted blind and hundreds of interviews. He spends his time writing, cooking, and reading when he is not on the road visiting wineries or distilleries or working with clients. He is also a Certified Cider Guide by the American Cider Association.

Eric Phillips is the Chief Commercial Officer at Schilling Hard Cider – overseeing both sales & retail teams. Eric has successfully applied the skills gained from his past life as a public school teacher to building a world-class sales organization that has outperformed the industry by a wide margin every year with him at the helm. Eric focuses on putting people first and finding smarter ways of working that often look very different than industry norms. He believes in changing the industry for the better and creating opportunities for people of every background. Over the past two years, Eric has also spearheaded Schilling’s marketing department, elevating it to new heights of excellence. He tirelessly strives for seamless integration and unparalleled communication between sales, marketing, and all other departments, setting the stage for a best-in-class collaboration.

Debbie Morrison and her husband Jim are the owners of Sapsucker Farms Yellow Belly Cidery in Quamba, Minnesota. Founded in 2000, Sapsucker Farms is a 172-acre certified organic regenerative farm that integrates the natural environment in their operation which includes growing vegetables, fruits, honeybees, maple syrup, chickens, and apple orchards. In 2014 the Morrisons began producing Yellow Belly Cider and opened a cider barn tasting room. The farm and cidery has become a regional community hub for the public to enjoy the natural environment, learn about regenerative farming, feast on delicious food from local food trucks and, of course, enjoy award-winning ciders.

Marcus Robert joined Tieton Cider Works in 2010 as the cider operations manager, orchard manager and cider maker. He is a fourth generation farmer in the Yakima Valley of Southern Washington. He is a former board member of the Northwest Cider Association. He has been the Northwest representative for the the American Cider Association board of directors since 2017.

Bryan Ulbrich started making grape and apple wine in 1993. In 2008, the illustrious Mike Beck gave him a keg of cider to sell in the winery tasting room, ”just to see how it goes.” The first one is free, right? That 5 gallon corny keg has turned into a 15,000 gallon habit annually. In 2016 he started fermenting locally grown bittersharps and bittersweets as single varietals and blends in an effort to learn which apples would thrive in Northern Michigan’s cider scene. In 2024, Caravin Wine Works opened as a custom wine and cider making space to create a dedicated space for custom cider production and growth of the Left Foot Charley brand. Left Foot Charley has distribution in Illinois and Michigan.

Ashley Lindsay holds several degrees from the University of Hawaii and Oregon State University in Agriculture Sciences fields and Agricultural Education. Since 2017, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Chemeketa College – NW Wine Program, teaching various courses related to agricultural production and vineyard management. In 2015, Ashley and her husband Brian purchased and developed a 40 acre fallow farm. They planted 32 acres of heirloom Cider Apples and Perry Pears, creating Pleasant Valley Cider Apples. Pleasant Valley Cider Apples provides premium quality, sustainably grown fruit and juice for Cideries in the West Coast. In 2020, Ashley started a new company Pleasant Valley Consulting, which serves both the Cider Orchards and Vineyard industries to assist other growers to produce high quality fruit for cider and wine.

Remo Trovato is the founder of Juicing.Systems. Originally from Switzerland, he found his home in Canada’s Okanagan Valley with his wife, Kristen. They started MobileJuicing.com to tackle food waste in orchards, but soon realized North America needed better juicing tech. With Remo’s technical expertise and hands-on experience, he brought European machinery to North America, helping with innovations in equipment design, and training clients on their operation. Now, Juicing.Systems not only sells but also services and maintains equipment, thanks to the team’s deep expertise. When he’s not servicing machines or juicing with our sister company Okanagan Beverage Co., Remo is cherishing time spent with his family.

Nathan Riddell is the head of Sales at Juicing Systems. Originally a farm boy from Manitoba who made his way out West, Nathan is passionate about all things agriculture. He loves working with equipment, and helping people improve their systems and production processes. Nathan has spent the past seven years working with the Juicing Systems and Okanagan Beverage Co. teams and can usually be found either working on, or talking about process equipment, especially belt presses. In his free time, Nathan enjoys spending time outdoors with his family, chasing good food and good drinks, and getting to know the people behind the food and the beverages he enjoys.

Maggie Przybylski owns and operates Two Broads Ciderworks, established 2015 in San Luis Obispo, CA with her wife, Morgan. They make small batch, orchard focused ciders served at their inclusive tasting room, and they have been farming an orchard leased from the SLO Land Conservancy since 2021. She was raised in Oakland, CA by her parents and the Oakland Zoo keepers and outreach education staff. She found her way to cider by way of homebrewing beer with Morgan and the historic orchards of See Canyon. Along the way, she became a BJCP homebrew contest judge. Formerly a state environmental scientist and restaurant server, she has been hustling cider full-time since October 2020. She is passionate about good, sustainable foods, loves to cook, and sometimes still makes beer. She doesn’t really have time for hobbies anymore, but ask her what she is reading.

Robert “Chas” Runco provides licensing, regulatory, and commercial transaction advice to clients in the alcohol beverage industry. Chas advises large and small corporate clients on a variety of business matters. His practice focuses on advising wineries, breweries, distilleries, distributors, and retailers in regulatory and transactional matters. His experience in regulated industries has made him a preferred attorney for clients in the hospitality industry. He also works with trade organizations in regulatory and legislative capacities. By working with state regulators and legislators on behalf of trade associations, Chas helps advance the interests of the liquor industry at the rule-making and legislative levels.