Horeca Key Account Manager

HoReCa Key Account Manager

Company: TopHawks
Client: Estuary World
Department: Sales & Business Development
Functional Area: HoReCa / Key Account Sales
Location: Mumbai / Bengaluru / Delhi-NCR / Hyderabad / Kolkata / Goa / other priority markets
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience: 3-7 Years
Industry: Premium Beverages / FMCG / HoReCa / Hospitality

About the Role
TopHawks is hiring a HoReCa Key Account Manager to drive the acquisition, development and management of premium Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Clubs and other on-premise accounts for Estuary World.
The role will focus on building Estuary's presence on premium back-bars and beverage programs, developing strong relationships with owners, F&B heads, beverage managers, bar managers and bartenders, and driving consistent stocking, serving and repeat orders.
The ideal candidate should have strong HoReCa relationships, premium-category selling skills, excellent communication and negotiation abilities, and a highly proactive field-sales mindset.

Key Responsibilities
1. HoReCa Account Acquisition

• Identify and acquire premium bars, restaurants, hotels, clubs and hospitality accounts.
• Build a qualified prospect pipeline within assigned territory.
• Conduct outlet visits, product presentations, tastings and commercial negotiations.
• Convert prospects into active Estuary stocking accounts.
• Drive SKU listing and product penetration within accounts.

2. Key Account Management

• Build long-term relationships with owners, F&B managers, beverage managers, bar managers and purchase teams.
• Develop account-specific sales plans for high-value customers.
• Drive repeat ordering and increase SKU penetration.
• Monitor account performance, stock availability and sales potential.
• Resolve account-level issues quickly and professionally.

3. Back-Bar & On-Premise Visibility

• Drive Estuary's placement on premium back-bars and beverage menus.
• Ensure agreed visibility, displays and POS execution.
• Identify opportunities for menu placements, cocktail/mocktail programs and premium beverage experiences.
• Implement the "Own the Back-Bar" strategy across priority accounts.

4. Bartender & Product Education

• Conduct product demonstrations, tastings and bartender training.
• Build strong relationships with bartenders, mixologists and beverage professionals.
• Communicate Estuary's product proposition and blending-water concept effectively.
• Support bartender engagement programs and professional-channel activations.

Estuary's proposed strategy includes a Certified Blending Bar programme, bartender training and partnerships with bartender associations/mixology academies.
5. Sales & Revenue Delivery

• Achieve monthly and quarterly HoReCa sales targets.
• Drive new-account acquisition and repeat business.
• Track order frequency, SKU-wise sales and account productivity.
• Develop high-value accounts into strategic long-term customers.
• Maintain accurate sales pipeline and forecasting.

6. Market Intelligence

• Track competitor products, pricing, placements and promotions.
• Identify emerging premium bars, restaurants and hospitality properties.
• Provide field intelligence on customer preferences and category trends.
• Share actionable market insights with the sales leadership team.

7. Reporting & CRM/SFA Discipline

• Maintain accurate account and pipeline data.
• Record visits, meetings, opportunities and orders through the company's SFA/CRM platform.
• Submit daily/weekly activity and sales reports.
• Maintain a clear pipeline from prospect - meeting - sampling - listing - first order - repeat order.

Key Performance Indicators

• New HoReCa accounts acquired
• Active HoReCa accounts
• Monthly sales achievement
• Repeat-order rate
• Average revenue per account
• SKU penetration
• Back-bar placements
• Menu placements
• Bartender/product-training sessions
• Account conversion rate
• Sales pipeline value
• Visit-to-order conversion
• Account retention
• Distributor coordination and order fulfilment

Candidate Profile
Must Have

• 3-7 years of experience in HoReCa / On-Premise / Key Account Sales
• Existing relationships with premium hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs or hospitality establishments.
• Strong field-sales and business-development experience.
• Proven ability to acquire and develop key accounts.
• Excellent communication, presentation and negotiation skills.
• Strong commercial understanding and target orientation.
• Comfortable with extensive local market travel.
• Good Excel/CRM/SFA and reporting skills.

Preferred
Candidates from the following backgrounds will be strongly preferred:

• Premium beverages
• FMCG
• Hospitality
• Spirits / mixers / non-alcoholic beverages
• Luxury or premium consumer brands
• Wine & beverage distribution
• Bar/restaurant supply
• HoReCa distribution
• Premium hotel chains
• Beverage solution companies

Ideal Candidate
We are looking for a sharp, polished and relationship-driven HoReCa sales professional who can walk into a premium hotel, restaurant or bar, engage confidently with the decision-maker, present the Estuary proposition, conduct a product demonstration, negotiate the listing and ultimately convert the account into a regular, high-value customer.
The candidate should be well-groomed, articulate, commercially aggressive and comfortable operating independently in the field.