Ideas that add fuel for specialty food & bev businesses, at every stage of their evolution.
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About Greg O’Neill, principal
Greg O’Neill is a specialty food and beverage content expert, marketing consultant, strategic advisor and business coach to entrepreneurs and organizations at every stage of their evolution. Greg’s collaborations include work with interactive creative agency Taste Network LLC, as Director of Accounts and as Specialty Marketing & Trade Process Director for the Ribera y Rueda Wine US Campaign, which supports the prestigious Ribera del Duero and Rueda wine producing regions of Spain.
Prior to starting GRO(W) IDEAS LLC, Greg and his husband, Ken Miller, founded and operated Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine—a national award-winning multi-unit specialty food and beverage retailer/wine bars/restaurants with 125 employees. Pastoral operated for more than 15 years and also featured a wholesale cheese business to 100+ chef-driven restaurants as well as an online store that shipped nationwide. Pastoral’s gift collections were featured three separate times on Oprah’s Favorite Things and the company created branded gift collections for William-Sonoma Catalog for three holiday seasons. Pastoral was also twice named Specialty Food Association’s ‘Outstanding Retailer of the Year’ and was featured in a nationally aired American Airlines Citibank Business Card commercial.
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During his tenure at Pastoral, Greg served for multiple years as board-elected president/chair of the American Cheese Society—the leading cheese industry association in the Americas—and on the board of directors for the globally renowned Specialty Food Association which hosts the annual Fancy Food Shows.
Greg also was a founding member of the Good Food Merchants Collaborative—underwriter of the Good Food Awards as part of the Good Food Foundation—and later a co-founder of Victory Cheese which helped to save America’s specialty cheese industry in the face of a 30-80% market collapse stemming from the COVID-19 crisis. He has presented at numerous industry conferences, including serving as a featured speaker at Italy’s Franciacorta DOCG Wine Festival.
Prior to life as an entrepreneur, Greg enjoyed a 20-year career as a global brand marketing executive for Macy’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Motorola, Polaroid and Verizon (formerly GTE). He has been actively involved in civic, state and national initiatives for more than 40 years, and is dedicated to supporting his industry and community as a board member and volunteer.
Greg holds an MBA in Marketing from Duke University and bachelors degrees in English and Political Science from Rutgers University. Greg has resided in New York, Boston and overseas in Hamburg Germany and Budapest Hungary. He calls Chicago home with his life partner and husband of more than 30 years. Business, adventure and culinary/wine travel fuel Greg’s work and life passions.
“My own achievements & obstacles in business have shaped the perspective that I bring to my client relationships at GRO(W) ideas. I have a personal appreciation for the opportunities and challenges that my clients encounter, which informs the guidance, ideation and problem-solving strategies that I provide them. -Greg
TESTIMONIAL
Specialty Food Association
“Greg's strategic foresight and big-picture thinking were instrumental to navigate the association through pivotal change. Recognized by his peers for his effectiveness, Greg's contributions were perceived by many as not just valuable but transformative.”
- Bill Lynch, President, Specialty Food Association & Fancy Food Shows