Biography

Mr. Valette currently serves as an independent advisor to select branded consumer companies. He has been on Boston Beer’s Board of Directors since May 2003 and served as the Board’s Lead Director from May 2013 to May 2023. He is a Director and Audit Committee Chair of Intertek Group plc, a publicly traded global quality assurance and testing company active across a broad range of sectors and geographies, based in London, England. He also serves as a director of several private companies, including as Chairman of Huneeus Vintners and Drip Drop Hydration, Inc. He served as a Director of Sleep Number Corporation, a publicly traded sleep technology company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1994 to 2023, including as chairman from 2010 until 2022. Until November 2012, he was Chairman of the Board and a member of the Audit and Nominating/Governance Committees of Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc., a California-based specialty coffee company. Peet’s went private in 2012; from that timed until April 2022, Mr. Valette served as a Director and Chairman of its Audit and Valuation Committees. Peet’s parent company, JDE Peet's N.V., went public in May 2020; Mr. Valette does not serve on that Board. Until October 2006, he was Chairman of Robert Mondavi Winery, a California wine company. Prior to assuming that position, he had served as President and Managing Director of Robert Mondavi Winery from October 2004 to January 2005.

Mr. Valette has more than thirty years of experience in management, public company corporate governance, strategic planning, and finance, with extensive experience in the alcohol beverage industry. Mr. Valette has served on our Nominating/Governance Committee since May 2004. He has also served as a member of our Audit Committee since May 2003, and the Committee’s Chair since January 2019. He served on our Compensation Committee from May 2018 to May 2020.

Audit Committee (Chair), Nominating/Governance Committee