Business of Drinks

If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift, I'd like to make a recommendation. My “sure thing” pick for on-the-fly hostess gifts or tough-to-please relatives is a Rhône wine. Specifically a white wine. Why? These bottles massively overdeliver for the price. The blends are layered, textural alternatives to Chardonnay, and they pair well with rich, holiday fare. And they’re just far enough off-the-radar for most folks to feel like a special find. I selected a handful of my favorite wines — along with help from top somms Arthur Hon of The Modern in NYC and Ali Schmidt of Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group in Austin, TX — for this Forbes gift guide. We chose bottles from: Bastide du Claux - Sylvain MOREY YVES CUILLERON - yves Cuilleron Clos Bellane - Stephane Vedeau Pierre Amadieu Château de Saint Cosme DOMAINE DE BEAURENARD Enjoy and happy holidays! https://lnkd.in/e6TnQpzB #holidaygift #wine #rhonewine Business of Drinks Claire Gibbs

Check out this episode of Business of Drinks, where Ryan Malkin shares legal insights and strategies for navigating the industry effectively and avoiding potential pitfalls. ▶️ Listen to the full podcast >> https://lnkd.in/gx74AZMe Thank you Erica Duecy for the invitation #LiquorLawyer #Entrepreneurship #LegalServices #Law #DrinksIndustry #Regulations #AlcoholCompliance #WineIndustryAdvisor #AlcoholIndustryAdvisor #BeverageIndustry #SpiritsIndustry #AlcoholIndustry #Podcast #BusinessOfDrinks

Big news! SWIG Partners is teaming up with Business of Drinks to help more beverage brands succeed in import and distribution. Amy Troutmiller, Alexandra Cherniavsky, Arden Morgan, and myself are excited to welcome Erica Duecy and Scott Rosenbaum into this strategic partnership. Together, we’re committed to connecting beverage brands with long term distribution and/or import partners in all 50 states. Whether domestic or foreign, SWIG Partners is looking forward to helping you find meaningful and lasting paths to market! If you’re a beverage brand looking to expand your presence in the 🇺🇸, we’d love to hear from you! 📧 Email us at alex@swigpartners.com or visit www.swigpartners.com https://lnkd.in/g4WhSCDF

🎙️ On the latest episode of Business of Drinks, we dive into the incredible journey of Megan Klein, founder and CEO of Little Saints, a non-alcoholic cocktail company that aims to revolutionize the way we imbibe. 🌱✨ Key takeaway? Resilience is everything. Megan shares how her early missteps — burning cash on expensive PR campaigns and traditional distribution — taught her to pivot fast and focus on what works. Now, with a wildly successful DTC strategy and creative marketing that resonates, Little Saints is stronger than ever. 💡 **Insight:** Megan reminds us that sometimes, the best path forward is the one where you trust your gut and go back to basics. Agencies didn’t deliver, but her in-house team? Total game-changers. 🚀 Listen to Megan’s story of grit, reinvention, and scaling up to $9 Million a year in sales. Is 2025 the year of non-alcoholic cocktails taking over shelves? Find out in Ep. 44: https://lnkd.in/ePYGThYD #NonAlcoholicMovement #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOfDrinks #LittleSaints #WomenInBusiness Caroline Lamb Scott Rosenbaum

Looking for distribution? We can help! I'm excited to officially announce that Business of Drinks is working with SWIG Partners to help more beverage brands find success in import and distribution. SWIG's team of drinks industry all-stars — Amy Troutmiller, Erik Segelbaum, Alexandra Cherniavsky, and Arden Morgan — have had incredible success over the past several years placing wine, spirits, and non-alc brands with the importers and distributors that are "great fit" matches. In fact, SWIG has a 79% placement rate for its clients, which is pretty remarkable in this tight distribution market. If you’re a beverage brand looking to grow in the U.S., please DM me for an intro — or reach out directly and mention Business of Drinks for $100 off your service fee. https://lnkd.in/ebH2NHgz

What happens when you combine low ABV, authentic flavors, and multicultural appeal? You create a phenomenon like Stella Rosa’s Pineapple & Chili Wine — it was America’s #1 best-selling new wine SKU in 2023, according to Nielsen. 🔥 On the Business of Drinks podcast, Steve Riboli shares the story behind this bold innovation, born from a simple yet revolutionary idea: Consumers want flavor clarity. 💭 As co-host Scott Rosenbaum astutely observed: “When one sees Stella Rosa Watermelon or Ruby Rosé Grapefruit, there’s no friction. They immediately understand what they’re buying, and that’s incredibly powerful.” Tune in for insights on: ✔️ How flavor and authenticity are redefining wine for Gen Z and Millennials. ✔️ The inspiration behind unique offerings like spicy wines and ready-to-drink spritzes. ✔️ Why simplicity in messaging is key to reaching new audiences. 🍷 Ready to rethink the wine category? Check out Ep. 43: https://lnkd.in/eNAahZey #WineTrends #Innovation #FlavoredWine #PodcastHighlights Riboli Family Wines Caroline Lamb #stellarosa

"Hard seltzer is dead!" they say. "Long live hard seltzer!" actual drinkers reply, with $3.6 billion in retail sales echoing their response. In preparation for a recording with Erica Duecy and Scott Rosenbaum for Business of Drinks, I jotted down this note as one of the storylines I'm most interested in for 2025: "An industry talks about moving past hard seltzer, but consumers don't." Over and over, The Narrative has suggested a tragic fall for a category that was the toast of Americans' drink choices just several years ago. And yet, *hard seltzers still sell as much as spirit-based and wine-based RTDs combined.* Sure, some people may have been excited to trade up from White Claw to High Noon, but hard seltzer and its many emergent brands like Nectar Hard Seltzer, Boulevard Brewing Company's Quirk, and 603 Brewery and Beer Hall's 603 Hard Seltzer continue to capture the taste buds and wallets of people all over, including young drinkers. (Happy Dad Hard Seltzer & Tea is on a perpetual tear - it's own story unique and targeted to grow an audience.) The challenge is how much Boston Beer and Truly's ongoing spiral dominates conversation around hard seltzer. Truly has been in decline for a long time and for years has been pegged by media as the barometer for which the entire category is measured. Sold via the publicly-traded company, it's faults are easy to find on a quarterly earnings call and then pair with a damning headline. Meanwhile, White Claw is growing along with those other brands focused on flavor, brand positioning, and connecting with consumers. You may not believe it, but there's still runway ... and many have left the segment and cleared a lane for others. We didn't get to chat about hard seltzer on the podcast, but the upcoming episode will hit on a variety of ideas and positioning considerations that will be valuable next year and beyond. Excited to connect with people soon to talk about it all.

🚀 What does it take to grow a wine brand to 4.1 million cases in a challenging market? In our latest Business of Drinks podcast episode, we spoke with Steve Riboli CEO of Riboli Family Wines, about the incredible success of its Stella Rosa brand. 👉 Stella Rosa isn't just a wine brand — it’s a *gateway to the category,* introducing new generations of drinkers to wine with its low-ABV, flavor-forward, semi-sparkling offerings. Fun fact: 27% of Stella Rosa’s sales in 2023 came from first-time wine drinkers! In the interview, Steve explains: ✅ How Stella Rosa caters to younger, multicultural consumers. ✅ Why innovation and authentic storytelling are at the heart of their strategy. ✅ The role of over 3,000 annual activations in driving awareness and sales. 📢 If you’re curious about how tradition and innovation intersect to drive success in a competitive category, this episode is a must-listen! 🎧 🔗 Listen to Ep. 43 here: https://lnkd.in/eQG8kcqH #WineIndustry #Innovation #Leadership #Podcast Caroline Lamb Scott Rosenbaum

IMHO, it's always a good time for coffee. I'm an espresso fiend, who also loves to carry that flavor into the evening with an espresso martini. That's why I was so psyched to talk with Tom Baker, co-founder of Mr Black Spirits, America’s best-selling premium coffee liqueur. On today's episode of the Business of Drinks podcast, Tom shares the serendipitous beginnings of his company, the divine intervention of the "coffee gods" that led him to his co-founder, and how Mr Black carved an unexpected niche in the spirits industry. We track the brand's rise from a small Australian startup to a multi-million dollar company, diving into the challenges Tom faced in the early days, launching a coffee liqueur as craft spirits and coffee culture were both emerging. We explore how Mr Black differentiated itself from competitors like Kahlua with a product that truly tastes like coffee, and how the brand helped shape the espresso martini's renaissance. (The espresso martini is now the Top 4 best-selling cocktail in America, just two years after hitting the Top 10 list, per Nielsen data!) You’ll hear how Mr Black leveraged crowdfunding to gain early traction, the importance of building strong distributor relationships, and how the brand scaled globally. Tom also shares his insights on managing the operational complexities of growing a business, the role of Diageo’s acquisition, and why staying focused on a singular vision helped the brand achieve sustained success. So pour yourself a cuppa joe and and listen in to Episode 42! https://lnkd.in/etXkgbex #drinksbusiness #drinksindustry #espressomartini #founder #beveragealcohol Scott Rosenbaum Caroline Lamb

What's the No. 1 most important job of a founder? To be their own, best publicist, says Fawn Weaver, founder of the billion-dollar whiskey brand Uncle Nearest, Inc. In Ep. 41 of Business of Drinks, Fawn shares her insights on how to successfully build and scale a modern drinks brand — and some of her ideas might surprise you. From breaking through the old-boys club of Tennessee whiskey to the distribution deal that got Uncle Nearest on the map, this episode is filled to the brim with insights for anyone interested in brand building. Listen in! https://lnkd.in/eYbBZfRA #whiskey #drinksbrand #brandbuilding #founder Business of Drinks Caroline Lamb Scott Rosenbaum