Kim Haasarud is a beverage innovator, author and incurable trend-spotter who has spent the past two decades helping brands figure out what’s next before their customers know to ask for it. She has led hundreds of innovation projects across hospitality, spirits and beverage—for hotel groups, QSRs, liquor brands and global restaurant chains. She recently joined the team at Ignite Creative Services, a food & beverage marketing agency where she gets to spend even more time on strategic ideation, operations and development. Kim serve eight years on the USBG’s national board, including a term as national president, and helped raise and distribute over $10 million to bartenders who lost their jobs during the pandemic. She is the author of the best-selling “101...” cocktail book series with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has judged everything from “Iron Chef America” to Diageo World Class to the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and you may have caught herf speaking at a conference or on TV or podcast talking about the future of what’s in the glass. Kim believes the best innovation happens when you pay attention to culture before it shows up on a menu—which is why she spends as much time writing and thinking about where the industry is headed as she does about building what’s next for brands. She lives in Phoenix with her husband Kevin, her two kids, Holden and Maddy, and Lucy, a miniature Australian Shepherd.