This is an exciting episode! We’ve just launched a major, national study into the drinking preferences of Millennials and Gen Zs. Here, we reveal the results of that report, from how much these audiences spend on wine, to their evolving relationships with soft drinks, canned cocktails, and spirits. More importantly, we have fresh insights into why Millennials and Gen Zs make the drink choices they do. This is groundbreaking research that answers the key questions that are currently gripping the ...
Apr 16, 2024•53 min•Season 2Ep. 3
What does it take to succeed in the no- and low-alcohol space? The man to ask is Derek Brown, the award-winning bartender, author and National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified wellness coach. Derek was one of the most successful bartenders in the U.S. when he decided to re-think his relationship with alcohol. In 2020, he wrote an article for Vox called “Becoming a mindful drinker changed my life.” The article changed his life, too, as it went viral and established him as a leader in the expl...
Apr 16, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Everyone who works beverage alcohol right now is asking just one question: “ Where have all the young drinkers gone? ” Not only are young people, both GenZs and Millennials, drinking less alcohol, but a significant number aren’t drinking any alcohol at all. According to Google, 41% of GenZers don’t touch alcohol, while the number of college-aged Americans who are teetotal has risen to a whopping 28%. What’s going on? Is this a generational blip — or a permanent change? This season on Business of...
Apr 16, 2024•40 min
Welcome to Season 2 of the Business of Drinks! This season, we ask the biggest question on everyone's mind: “Where have all the young wine drinkers gone?” Are millennials and Gen Z really drinking less alcohol? And if so, why? And what are they drinking instead? We're embarking on a wide-ranging quest to understand millennial and Gen Z drinking behavior. We'll be talking with researchers and experts from the drinks industry and beyond, and we even commissioned our own study on this topic! Tune i...
Apr 16, 2024•1 min
Welcome to Episode 9 of the Business of Drinks podcast, our Season 1 Finale. We are joined once more by Hamlet Hound founder, Christy Frank. She’s been listening to all our interviews with experts, all of whom had great advice on how to build and grow a successful drinks business. Did she agree with any of it? And what did we learn along the way? Were we successful in our mission to show how a startup can go from idea to national distribution? Tune in and then let us know! Stay tuned for the key...
Apr 16, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Welcome, thirsty listener, to Episode 8 of the Business of Drinks podcast. Today’s show is called “Drinks M&A”, with guest Andrew Merinoff, the founder of DisPact Ventures, and co-founder of Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur. Tune in as Merinoff identifies current drinks trends and shares some of the most effective ways to roll out, develop and market a brand. He also reveals where in the US are the best places to grow a company, especially those with an eye on future mergers and acquisitions, a...
Apr 16, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 8
On today's episode, we speak with Brian Rosen, the Founder at Growth Beverage and BevStrat LLC. Rosen’s BevStrat advocates for smaller brands, helping them grow and thrive, and as such, he has a deep understanding as to why brands become successful when they do; the top mistakes brands make, and how much it costs to hire a boots-on-the-ground sales-force vs. what a brand will spend slogging it out on their own. Rosen divulges brands he thinks will work and those that won’t, also unpacking “flex”...
Apr 16, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Welcome, thirsty listener. This is episode 6 of the Business of Drinks podcast. Today’s show is called “Brand Accelerators” and in this episode, we sit down with Scott Rosenbaum, the Search Manager for Distill Ventures, North America. Scott likens his role to a talent scout for booze, where he goes searching for brands with the potential to break out. In this conversation Scott defines what a drinks accelerator does, outlining the difference between how an accelerator can help your brand grow vs...
Apr 16, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Welcome, thirsty listener. This is episode 5 of the Business of Drinks podcast. Today’s show is called “Finding Funding” and in this episode, we sit down with Taylor Foxman, The Industry Collective founder and CEO to talk all about where to find investment cash when starting a drinks brand. Taylor talks about all the ways you can raise capital, from angel investors, shared sales services, accelerators and family offices, to private equity partners. Show concept: This season, we’re following a ca...
Apr 16, 2024•50 min
In this episode, we sit down with Woody Hambrecht, co-founder of the DTC aperitif brand Haus, which spectacularly crashed in the summer of 2022, after its lead investor, Constellation Brands, reportedly pulled out of a $10 million Series A raise at the last minute. If you need a refresher, Haus was a drinks industry darling that raised — and burned through — $17 million in its 3-year run. During that time, the company also saw considerable success, selling more than $10 million in product. In a ...
Apr 16, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Welcome, thirsty listener. This is episode 3 of the Business of Drinks podcast. In this episode, we are joined once again by Hamlet Hound founder, Christy Frank, to talk all about money. Money is a topic often seen as taboo, yet it is fundamental when going about establishing a drinks business in today’s market. The good news is, starting-up might not be as expensive as you might think. In this episode we cover a whole host of topics, so if you are interested in knowing more about how to scale y...
Apr 16, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In this episode, we sit down with Ryan Malkin, attorney and sage advisor when it comes to setting up a drinks business. Not only is Ryan in-the-know in terms of what is going on in today’s drinks world, he understands the path that budding drinks entrepreneurs need to follow in order to avoid pitfalls. Even more interesting are his thoughts on how much it will cost to fulfill your drinks business aspirations. You might be pleasantly surprised to find out that you don’t need a large (or even a sm...
Apr 16, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In this episode, we establish the roots of Hamlet Hound; introduce Christy Frank, founder of the company, and find out how she came up with the idea to start her line of spirits-based canned cocktails. We also learn about some of the problems Christy faced as she developed the product, key details about her marketing strategy, and the process behind creating cocktails that work in a canned format. Join us as we begin our investigation of what it takes to start and run a real drinks business. Thi...
Apr 16, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Welcome to the Business of Drinks, where we go behind the bottle, interviewing beverage innovators and icons about how they built their businesses. We take a data-driven approach, analyzing the brands, products, and categories that get customers and consumers excited. And we cover many drinks categories — from wine, beer, and spirits to non-alcohol drinks — as well as THC, adaptogen, and functional beverages. So whether you’re working in drinks — or just interested in the stories behind your fav...
Mar 01, 2023•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
