The Appointment
VIP, a technology partner serving the food and beverage industry for more than 50 years, has named Emiliano Delucia Chief Product and Technology Officer, placing him in charge of product strategy, engineering, and technology across the company's full portfolio. The hire comes on the heels of VIP's acquisition of Encompass Technologies and signals an accelerated push into AI-powered solutions for foodservice operators and beverage distributors.
Delucia brings more than 20 years of product and technology leadership, most recently as CPTO at Encompass Technologies, where he oversaw platform modernization, scaled engineering teams, and launched a suite of products including OrderIQ, MileageTracker, ApIQ, MerchSync, and Cowork — an agentic AI platform purpose-built for the food and beverage industry. Earlier roles spanned Place, Red Ventures, and Halliburton.
Why It Matters for Operators
For food and beverage businesses using VIP or Encompass products, the executive move is a direct signal about continuity and investment. Andrew Criezis, CEO of VIP, described the opportunity plainly: "We have an opportunity to accelerate the pace of AI innovation across our business while continuing to invest in the products and capabilities our customers depend on."
Delucia framed his own priorities around practical outcomes rather than broad technology promises. "That means listening closely to customers, continuing to invest in the products they rely on today, and applying technology and AI in practical ways that make their businesses more efficient, connected and easier to run," he said. For operators already navigating rising labor costs, complex distribution relationships, and the demands of connected commerce, that kind of applied AI focus carries real weight — a theme well-documented in restaurant technology coverage over the past several years.
Integration Roadmap
The combined VIP-Encompass entity positions itself around complementary strengths: VIP contributes five decades of deep industry relationships and software built around actual operational workflows; Encompass brings modern platform architecture and demonstrated AI capabilities. Together, the companies are pitching operators on a roadmap that invests in today's tools while building infrastructure for what comes next.
Encompass customers, in particular, will gain access to VIP's broader portfolio — including advances in data, automation, and connected technology — without disrupting the products and support relationships they currently depend on. That kind of post-acquisition promise is easier made than kept, but Delucia's prior role at Encompass gives him firsthand knowledge of that customer base, potentially smoothing integration friction.
The appointment reflects a wider trend in foodservice technology: purpose-built platforms targeting beverage distributors, multi-unit operators, and supply chain participants are consolidating, and beverage industry analysis has tracked this consolidation pattern closely as enterprise buyers demand more integrated, data-connected stacks. Delucia's mandate at VIP puts him squarely at the center of that convergence.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
