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Amy Troutmiller, the CEO of Really Good Boxed Wine, has reinvented boxed wine in the US market â and achieved a whopping 417% growth by focusing on quality, value, and consumer demand for moderation.
Amy explains how she and co-founder Jake Whitman created a premium boxed wine brand and tapped into consumer desires for convenience and value, especially among older demographics.
Contrary to expectations, the core consumer base for Really Good Boxed Wine is over 55, demonstrating the demand for premium options in this demographic.
The brand's success is largely driven by word-of-mouth marketing, highlighting the power of customer satisfaction and organic reach.Consumer feedback emphasises the convenience and value of boxed wine, particularly for moderation and reducing waste.People like the way they can have a single glass and then come back for more the next day â no wasting whole bottles!Strategic partnerships are everything. Without them, Really Good Boxed Wine wouldnât have overcome the production challenges.Despite industry resistance, consumer demand for premium boxed wine is strong â there is significant growth potential in the category.The lesson is that to find success in wine, offer consumers good quality wine in a format that embraces moderation.Listeners in the USA! If you want to try Really Good Boxed Wine for yourself, use the code DRINKSINSIDER and get 15% off.
https://reallygoodboxedwine.com -
How do you launch a category-busting brand from New Zealand and storm into the US market? Lisa King can tell you, because sheâs done it. A serial entrepreneur from New Zealand, King's first venture, Eat My Lunch, tackled the issue of child poverty in New Zealand with a buy-one-give-one model that provided thousands of free lunches to Kiwi kids. Her current venture, AF Drinks, is a non-alcoholic beverage company that is rapidly gaining traction in the US and Australia.
In this episode she talks about how she formulated a non-alc cocktail that experienced tasters identified as alcoholic, from how she assembled the right team and how she unlocked funding, to how she landed on retail shelves throughout the USA.
The episode covers:
Identifying market opportunitiesBuilding a strong brand identityAdapting to consumer feedbackThe power of storytellingExpanding into international marketsOvercoming funding challengesBuilding a strong teamAnd even how meeting Barack Obama is like meeting Santa.
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Professor Tim Stockwell is the most influential figure in the world of alcohol right now. His research claiming there are no health benefits to moderate drinking has attracted wide media attention and directly led to people either moderating their alcohol intake or quitting altogether.
In fact, The New York Times has called him âone of the people most responsible for our cultural course correction on alcohol.â
The J-Curve hypothesis claims that people who drink light to moderate amounts of alcohol have lower all-cause mortality rates than those who drink heavily or not at all. Professor Stockwell challenges this hypothesis, arguing that many studies that support the J-Curve fail to account for the "sick quitter" phenomenon. This is what happens when people who have given up alcohol due to bad health are grouped with lifetime abstainers, which makes the health outcomes for moderate drinkers appear more favourable.
But his work has been harshly criticised, by both libertarians and by other scientists. Heâs been accused of bias, cherry picking and sloppy referencing.
In this in-depth episode, Professor Stockwell explains his research, pushes back against his critics and explains his ties with Movendi.
This interview covers:
Tim Stockwellâs history in the alcohol and health spaceWhat got him interested in the issue of moderate consumption and healthHis work challenging the J-Curve hypothesisThe âsick quitterâ phenomenon and its impact on dataAnswers to the criticisms that he cherry picks dataA discussion of his ties to Movendi, the Swedish-based temperance groupThe impact of cancer warning labels on alcoholWhy he wants everybody to drink less, not just problem drinkersRelevant articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/15/magazine/alcohol-health-risks.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/health/alcohol-health-effects.html
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/27/why-scientific-support-for-alcohols-health-benefits-is-fadingDrinks Insider has also interviewed Chris Snowdon, one of Tim Stockwell's harshest critics. You'll find that here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2k1XtETvfywIi14MYqJYtY
And here is a summary of Snowdon's criticisms: https://snowdon.substack.com/p/cherry-picking-the-evidence-on-alcohol -
Who truly understands what people are drinking? In this episode of Drinks Insider, host Felicity Carter chats with Gary Ross, Chief Growth Officer at Union, a point-of-sale and guest ordering platform that gives new meaning to the phrase âdata miningâ.
Thereâs not much he doesnât know about drink trends and consumer behaviour, because Union sees whatâs happening in real time. From the meteoric rise of tequila to the enduring power of celebrity brands, Gary dissects the forces shaping what we drink and how we drink it.
More importantly, he explains the inner workings of the Mexican Candy Shot. You'll never look at your drinks menu the same way again.
Here are just 7 of the insights:
The most critical day of the week for bars and restaurants. This one day accounts for a quarter of weekly sales.The peak sales window on a Saturday night and how spending patterns change.Sell your customer a malt-based RTD and they will head in one drinks direction. Sell them a spirits-based RTD, and theyâll head in another.Celebrity-backed brands are, on average, 73% more expensive than those without celebrity association. But do people buy them?How has the moderation trend impacted sales and level of spending?What IS the Green Tea Shot? Who buys it?The buyers of which drink are 370% more likely to go on to order wine? -
Why are there so many anti-alcohol stories appearing in the media? One of the harshest critics of the anti-alcohol movement is Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the free market think tank Institute of Economic Affairs in the UK. In this wide-ranging discussion, we delve into the anti-alcohol movement, exploring its implications on personal freedoms and public health.
Topics covered include:
The history of the modern anti-alcohol movement and how it rose from the ashes of Prohibition;The system of grants that sustains it;The Total Consumption Model of alcohol, which suggests that the only way to help heavy drinkers is to get everybody to stop drinking;The âcommercial determinants of healthâ and why governments like the idea; andWhy alcohol policies often fail.Relevant documents:
The World Health Organization and their Commercial Determinants of Health document.The work of Professor Tim Stockwell, whose meta-analyses that dispute the existence of the J-curve have received huge media attention. Youâll find Chris Snowdonâs criticisms here.The doomed MACH (Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health) trial. -
While many entrepreneurs are backing away slowly from both the wine industry and China, Don St Pierre Jr is rushing back in â because he sees plenty of opportunity.
In 1996, two Don St Pierres â senior and junior â changed the world of wine forever when they founded ASC Fine Wines in Shanghai.
Don St. Pierre Snr saw an opportunity in wine: as he later wrote about Chinaâs 1.2 billion population, âall of these folks had to drink and eat something.â
Before long, the St Pierres were distributing Beringer and Bollinger, among other fine wines. They pretty much singlehandedly established Chinaâs fine wine market.
Don St Pierre Jr. retired from the business in 2015, and shortly after became CEO and co-owner of Californiaâs Vinfolio. Don St Pierre Sr died in 2023.
Recently Don St Pierre Jr founded AdaptEdge, an investment and advisory company. One of its first investments was in Vino Joy News, the media company founded by Natalie Wang.
And on St Pierre emains bullish on China, even though wine consumption there peaked in 2017. In this podcast, he explains why he believes so strongly in the country, and why he remains so optimistic about the wine industry in general.
In this wide-ranging conversation he reveals:
Why he loves family-run companies and how he evaluates themHow digital innovation can resolve some of the distribution bottleneck problemsWhy producers and businesses elsewhere should be taking inspiration from ChinaHow to research the Chinese marketInsights from the Harvard Innovation LabAs always, the takeaways will be in the newsletter, which you can sign up for at drinksinsider.com
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Entrepreneur and co-founder Marian Leitner-Waldman has single handedly overcome all the problems facing the wine industry. Archer Roose has a thriving audience of young consumers, who canât get enough of high-quality wine in cans and bagnums, which appear in more than 6,000 outlets.
The reason that sales are up 35% year-on-year? The brand is built on a combination of high-quality wine, total transparency, and plenty of data.
In this fascinating episode, Marian talks about:
How wine-loving investors failed to see the market opportunity sitting right in front of them.How Archer Roose launched without institutional funding.How and why she partners with celebrity Elizabeth Banks, even though she says that celebrity brands are dead.What beer distributors know about getting cans into hands, that wine distributors need to know.What the wine industry is getting wrong about young people.How Archer Roose opened up completely new markets, from cinemas to stadiums.The issues surrounding cans and how Archer Roose solved them.Not only is Marian a fount of useful knowledge and advice, sheâs also a great speaker. Tune in to learn more â and all the takeaways can be found in the Drinks Insider newsletter. Sign up for it here.
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Why do winemakers add chemicals to wine? Are these additives dangerous? How do we know? And why do winemakers take the risk?
The person who knows more about this topic than almost anybody alive is pharmacologist and toxicologist Creina Stockley, who has been not just in research, but in the regulatory process. In this episode, she delves into the use of additives and processing aids in winemaking, and explains how theyâre developed, why winemakers use them, and what it takes to get them through the regulatory process.
Health policy
Creina has also had a front seat to worldwide discussions about wine and health, from the uprush of research in the 1990s, to the current situation. She discusses the politics of research and funding, and how we know what we do about the impact of wine and other alcohol on human health.
The conversation covers:
What additives and processing aids are, and why they are used.How additives and processing aids get regulatory approval.The impact on human health.Alcohol consumption guidelinesRole of epidemiological studiesCultural differences in alcohol consumptionHow the focus of research shifted -
Increased sales of more than 40%. High customer loyalty. And the ability to spot a customer whoâs about to unsubscribe.
As Ben Gibson explains, there is still plenty of growth to be found in direct-to-consumer sales. Heâs the founder of WineHub, the wine and spirits plug- in for Shopify, which is enabling exponential growth in wine sales.
Ben explains how and why he created WineHub, and explains how wineries can use the tool to increase their average order value and maintain customer relationships. Ben also discusses the importance of having a loyalty programme and how it can help retain customers. He shares insights on the changing demographics of wine consumers and the opportunities for growth in the wine industry.
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There is a massive fight brewing in the United States, and it's over the question of how much alcohol people can safely drink.
Every five years the US government updates its dietary guidelines, and in that process outlines what the limits of alcohol consumption should be.
The process has been fraught, with claims and counter-claims of bias and irregular dealings.
David Clement, North American Affairs Manager for Canadaâs Consumer Choice Center, based in Ontario, saw the exact same fight play out, involving some of the same scientists. At the time, he wrote about what happened for the Canadian media.
In this lively episode, he discusses:
What happened in Canada and what it means for the U.S.The pushback from addiction specialistsThe rise of anti-alcohol groups and their impact on public healthA look at Movendi, the Swedish temperance group turned public health NGOThe politics of public healthRelevant articles:
Opinion: Anti-alcohol extremists should not determine alcohol policy -
What does science tell us about hangovers? Frustratingly, very little is known about them, apart from the economic havoc they wreak.
But everyone who has experienced them knows exactly how evil they are. Wouldnât it be great if it was possible to drink without any side effects?
Professor David Nutt, a neuropsychopharmacologist, has been hard at work on that very thing. In this episode, he discusses the work heâs doing on a molecule called Alcarelle, which is currently going through regulatory testing. In the meantime, heâs introduced a vermouth-like drink called Sentia to market.
In this episode, Felicity Carter and Dave, as he likes to be known, talk about how alcohol affects the brain, the misery of hangovers, and how Dave devised and created Sentia, and brought it to market.
The conversation covers:
Hangovers and what we donât know about themHow alcohol affects the brainHow ancient herbal remedies may hold the secret to creating alcohol substitutesThe rise of functional drinksHow to bring a new drink to marketThe market potential for non-alcoholic drinksThe future of alcohol itself -
Alcohol consumption is predicted to drop precipitously in the next five years. What actions should wineries (and distilleries) take to ensure their business is one of those that comes out the other side in good financial shape? What opportunities are there for wine-adjacent products?
In this episode, wine data guru Lulie Halstead shares insights on branding, consumer behavior, and practical research tactics, offering valuable advice for wine enterprises of all sizes.
Projected decline in wine consumptionImpact of generational shiftsPremiumization trendsMarket orientation over product orientation:Distinctiveness versus differentiationDiverse consumer preferencesLeveraging market researchThe potential of wine-adjacent productsChallenges in low-or-no alcohol winesSpirits diversification and globalizationLulie co-founded Wine Intelligence and is regarded as a leading thinker in the world of wine business strategy. Prior to co-founding Wine Intelligence, she developed expertise in the wine industry, with hands-on roles in importing, marketing and retailing. She is an established marketing academic, focusing on wine consumer behaviour and continues to teach and supervise on masterâs programs around the world. Alongside her passions for food and wine, she focuses on exploring what makes consumers behave the way they do. She specializes in qualitative research practices and trend research, constantly developing new ways to uncover the processes of the subconscious mind. Lulie is a frequent and valued speaker at many international wine industry and academic conferences around the world.
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How do you turn your customers into fans? How do you even connect with your customersâand how do you do it if you have a wildly diverse customer group?
The man to ask is Justin Noland, who recently became VP of Digital Experience at Treasury Americas. Treasury Wine Estates is a multi-national company headquartered in Australia, which has 20 wine brands in its portfolio including the blockbuster 19 Crimes and some luxury brands.
Justin is an acknowledged expert in all things digital, and in this wide-ranging conversation he talks about everything from wine as entertainment, to whether demographics are a useful way to segment the market.
Weâre going to talk about wine, obviously, but this is a conversation that is relevant across the beverage space, whether youâre in spirits, tea or non-alc.
The conversation covers: the complexities of modern wine marketing; exploring strategies for engaging younger audiences; the challenges of social media, and the intricacies of managing a global content strategy.
The episode is packed with practical advice on how to stand out in a competitive market.
Key Topics:
Demographics and Consumer BehaviourStrategies for Connecting with Younger AudiencesContent Strategy for Small to Medium-Sized WineriesNavigating Social Media ChallengesGlobal Content Strategy and LocalizationPersonalizing the Brand When Youâre CorporateDigital Engagement with Trade PartnersAnd if you want the takeaways, donât forget to sign up for the Drinks Insider newsletter!
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How would it change your business if you could predict how successful your products would be before you launched them?
Or what about if you wanted to create something very risky, and someone handed you a map of all the places where it was guaranteed to sell?
Or how would your life change if youâd launched a wine that wansât working, and someone could tell you how to fix it?
The technology to do all of this exists and itâs been developed by a California company called Tastry, founded by Katerina Axelsson.
In this episode she explains how machine learning, AI and chemistry have unlocked consumer insights that have led not just to higher sales, but also a much better understanding of who might like a particular wine, and where the best place to sell it is.
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Rowena Curlewis is the woman behind some of the most iconic designs in the drinks space â not only has she worked on brands like Penfolds and 19 Crimes, but she recently created the labels for Dolly Wines, the first wines released by legend Dolly Parton.
Rowena is, with Margaret Nolan, the co-founder of Denomination Design, a brand design agency headquartered in Sydney, with offices in San Francisco and London.
In this conversation, she covers everything from current trends, to collaborations with fashion designers, to how to make a bottle stand out:
1. Connect through storytelling
Storytelling takes consumers down a path where they will fall in love with your brand. Authenticity is an important quality signal.
2. The name is everything
How will the product look on a wine list? When itâs written up on a chalkboard? Does the name jump out? Is it easy to pronounce? All these things will prompt the customer to buy it.
3. If you can get the consumer to pick up the bottle...
...itâs now much more likely that they will buy the product. If they like it, theyâre more likely to buy it again, because once theyâve handled it, theyâve built a sensory memory around it that will give them a feeling of trust.
4. Design differently for the dark
If your product is going to be served in a dark bar at night, you need to consider how the bartender or sommelier will find it. Spirits brands are very good at creating distinctive shapes, so that people can tell what the bottle is, just by touch.
5. Donât forget the capsule
The capsule does a lot more work than people realise, particularly if the bottle is going to sit in an ice bucket, or itâs going to poke from a rack. The capsule may be the only thing that customers get to see, so use that space effectively.
For the full takeaways from this episode, sign up to the Drinks Insider newsletter.
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How do you break into a category thatâs completely dominated by one major, very cashed-up player?
If youâre Tyson Branz Destileria Barako Corp, you test the local market and build up a fan base who spread the word wherever they go, helping to do the marketing for you.
In this episode, Tyson explains how he and his team developed Ube Cream Liqueur, and how they turned it into an export dynamo by turning locals into true fans. He covers:
1. Why entering competitions is a good strategy
The power of a medal can open doors and he explains how and why.
2. Trade fairs versus the direct approach
Thereâs a time to run a booth at a trade fair, and a time to get out and meet people. Tyson explains how he decided on his trade strategy.
3. Know the occasion for your brand
Destileria Barako is in the Philippines, where people consume alcohol in a very particular way. By knowing how the drink would be consumed, the team turned Ube into the must-have party drink.
4. Identify your export market
Sometimes itâs not the country you need to target, but the ex-pat community within that country. Hereâs how and why to do it â and how to respect your target audience.
5. Market data vs gut instinct
When to pull the trigger and launch a new product.
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Whatâs better than marketing your brand yourself? Getting other people to talk about your brand. The more (positive) attention you get, the easier it is to get people to try your product, and to convince distributors, retailers and the off-trade to stock it.
The man who knows more about this than just about anybody else in the US is Gino Colangeo, founder of Colangelo & Partners, which has a huge team dedicated to promoting wine and spirits and offices in New York, San Francisco and Miami.
Heâs also a great storytelling and in this lively episode, Gino gives plenty of useful insights into the doâs and donâts of spreading your message through both traditional media and social media channels:
1. Prepare yourself before you dive in
What do you need in place before you start a PR campaign? How much money? What time period do you need to plan for?
2. When to target trade media vs when to target consumer
Thereâs the right time to target sales channels through the trade media, and a better time to engage with consumers through mainstream press and social media. Gino offers tips on working out which channel to use and when.
3. You need targeted pitches
If your PR agency is sending out mass press releases, they may be wasting your time and money. What usually works better is the personalised pitch â but how do you get in front of those powerful gatekeepers?
4. Are you in the right place?
Everybody wants national distribution, but working state by state might be a better strategy. But in this case, how do you know which states to tackle first?
5. You need social media
Brands that donât have a social media presence lack credibility. Gino explains why.
All this and more in this very insightful and fast-paced episode.
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Neha Kumar knows a lot about money and finance. As well as a background in banking, and plenty of corporate experience, she also lectures at UCLAâs Anderson School of Management and collaborates with the Womenâs Abundance Collective, teaching high-net-worth women the ins and outs of investing and deal-making.
And, at a time when wine sales are wobbling, sheâs raised $14 million to invest in her company, Full Glass Wine, which is on a mission to build the next wave of direct-to-consumer brands in the space. Acquisitions include Winc, Bright Cellars and Wine Insiders.
In this episode, she explains why sheâs so optimistic about the future of wine DTC and:
1. The value of data
How using data effectively can help refine operations and present the correct wine to the right market.
2. Why you need to move faster
The industry works on razor-thin margins, which means wine companies have to be swift and responsive, and test, grow or discard ideas faster than is other industries.
3. How to present choices to consumers in a meaningful way
Too much choice can paralyze consumers, but not enough will feel flexible and rigid. Neha explains how to create the happy medium.
4. The role of convenience
Pack size is everything in this game, and itâs worth reconsidering the traditional 3-, 6- and 12-bottle format.
5. The right model for multiple businesses
How do you build brands that will appeal to different demographics, without cannibalising any of them? There are simple models for that!
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The U.S. beverage market is the most lucrative in the world â if your product is a hit, your money worries will (mostly) be over. But the post-pandemic market is undergoing a structural shift, with beverage alcohol declining and consumers wanting new flavors on a regular basis.
In this episode, Kaleigh Theirault of NielsenIQ tracks the changes, from the rise of canned cocktails to the emergence of new categories:
1. Why and how consumers are moving to the off-premise
At-home consumption of wine, beer, spirits and other drinks is rising. Is this just because people are still overstocked from the pandemic? Or is there something deeper going on?
2. Consumers are divided
The economy is great â for some people. Those people are out enjoying themselves, lining the bar and filling restaurant seats. Another group feels like theyâre falling behind. The drinks preferences of both groups are diverging.
3. More choices, more fragmentation
Back in the pre-pandemic days, consumers would think of themselves primarily as wine drinkers, beer drinkers, or as belonging to some other category. But as choices have widened, the mental barriers have fallen, and consumers are now ready to try everything â with consequences for producers.
4. Things are speeding up
To capture consumers, producers have to work harder and faster. New flavors, new products and new offerings of all kinds. As the product cycle shortens, how can producers keep up?
5. Wine consumption is falling
While older consumers still reach for their Cabernet and Chardonnay, younger consumers prefer cocktails. Is this just a short-term trend â or is it structural?
All this and more in one fact-packed episode.
