Liquid Assets: A Beverage Industry Podcast

In this episode, we discuss all the ways a beverage firm can diversify its business and the consequences when things go wrong. Whether it is geographical expansion, vertical integration, moving into adjacent categories, or route to market, we debate the merits, downsides, and myriad real-world examples of seven different diversification strategies and runway for each strategy to be successful goin...

What happens when you move a production plant from Europe to the United States or switch from Florida oranges to Brazilian oranges? Does your product still taste the same? Has technology made it possible to replace 50% of the sugar in a beverage with zero-calorie sweetener and avoid a nasty aftertaste? John Kelly and Paul Villis from Kerry Group join us to talk through how beverage brands are chan...

It's not a fun time to work in the alcohol business. Demand is down in almost every segment and in almost every geography. Costs are rising. And most every category is in some state of oversupply. How on earth did we get here?  Erica Duecy and Scott Rosenbaum, hosts of the Business of Drinks podcast, join the RaboResearch team to debate what is driving the recent declines in the alcohol industry u...

Young people are drinking less, but virtually all those declines are driven by men. If they do consume alcohol, men drink twice as much as women. In this episode, we speculate on what could be changing in the culture and in the lives of young men that is pushing them away from alcohol.    Link to our report on Gen Z drinking habits: Click here .     Want to sign up for our written research? Have a...

Economics power duo Jane Foley and Christian Lawrence return to give context to the first 100 days of the Trump administration, its impact on global economics, and the long-term impact of the US' changing relationship with the rest of the world.     Have a question, qualm, or story to tell, reach out via email: Bourcard. Nesin@rabobank.com Sign up to access our written research: RaboResearch sign-...

In 2024, wine production far outstripped demand. Glenn Proctor of Ciatti and Jeff Bitter of Allied Grape Growers help us understand the unique challenges of the current crisis and how it is shaping the future of the wine business in the US and beyond.  Contact us via email: bourcard.nesin@rabobank.com Sign up for our research via this link: Knowledge. Rabobank.com You can find the Ciatti newslette...

The RaboResearch team discusses the implications of Brown-Forman and Tito's Handmade Vodka moving to a beer distributor in California. Do wine and spirits wholesalers need to change, or will change erode their competitive advantage? Will the beer guys buy wine and spirits distributors, or is the wine and spirits opportunity too limited? For brands, what is the appeal of working with a beer wholesa...

In this episode, we review the latest earnings results from the spirits industry (Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Brown-Forman, Campari, Rémy Cointreau, Becle, and MGP Ingredients). Alongside individual company results, we discuss the impacts of declining sales in the US, the surprising health of the European market, the challenges created by aging inventory and wholesaler inventory, an evolution in pack a...

As the first quarter comes to a close, we look back at the results from the largest global beer companies (Heineken, Carlsberg, AB InBev, Molson Coors, Constellation Brands, Royal Unibrew) and what they tell us about the health of the beer industry in the US, Europe, and the rest of the world. Later in the episode, we breakdown the potential impact of Trump administration tariffs for companies acr...

For distributors, managing and verifying execution and incentive programs is a complicated task. For brands, it can feel impossible. In this episode, we speak to Cory Knopp from GoSpotCheck by FORM to discuss how distributors, brands, and retailers are using their photo-based technology to bring data and transparency to one of the most hard-to-measure and burdensome parts of the business. This is...

Jenda is a US-based tech company that uses retailer website data to offer real-time updates on out-of-stocks, competitive set, and pricing at an outlet level. Jenda's Amanda Wolff and Harry Shulman share how they are helping brands and distributors solve some of the industry's most persistent and frustrating problems. This is the third of four episodes recorded on-site at Access LIVE, the annual c...

Craig Letton and his company, Hyble, spent a decade refining the art of creating menus and point-of-sale materials across Europe. As his business expands across the US, Craig shares how Hyble is modernizing the production and design of point-of-sale materials and explains why so many of the strategies and technologies being adopted in the US have been standard practice among European brands and wh...

We caught up with Francis Creighton, President and CEO of WSWA, to get their take on Trump tariffs, how the industry should react to the growing pressure from public health organizations, and a range of other topics including taxes, cannabis, and a fun little anecdote involving Breaking Bad actor, Bryan Cranston. This is the first of four episodes recorded on-site at Access LIVE, the annual confer...

Over the last 25 years, distribution contracts in the US have shifted from handshake agreements to carefully negotiated legal documents. What do these contracts contain? As a brand, what is negotiable, what can you leverage to get a better deal, and what aspects of your business should never be compromised? Ed LeMay and Dale Stratton of Azur Associates join us to help answer these questions, shari...

Economics power duo Jane Foley and Christian Lawrence return to discuss the outlook for economic growth and the potential impact of tariffs and the Trump presidency in 2025. Have a question, qualm, or story to tell? Reach out via email: Bourcard. Nesin@rabobank.com Sign up to access our written research:  RaboResearch sign-up Note: The content and opinions presented within this podcast are not int...

In a show packed with passion, Kate Bernot and Bryan Roth of Sightlines and hosts of The Gist by Sightlines podcast help us identify the year's most important stories from the world of beer. Things then turn competitive as we go head-to-head in our third annual Quiz of the Year. Will our guests remember how much alcohol a hamster can drink or how many nonalcoholic beer consumers play video games?...

They sold skateboards colored with paint containing Tony Hawk's actual blood. They bought a Superbowl ad and hired a witch to attend and influence the outcome of the game. They auctioned off a seven-foot, casket-shaped Yeti cooler that sold for USD 68,000. However you might feel about these stunts, the folks at Liquid Death know how to get attention. On this episode, the company's CFO Karim Sadik-...

In this episode, the research team gets to the bottom of the biggest mystery confounding brands, investors, retailers, and distributors in 2024: Is the recent drop in US alcohol sales a short-term blip or the start of a more long-lived, structural decline?    Sign up for our research via this link: Knowledge. Rabobank.com. Note: The content and opinions presented within this podcast are not intend...

Consolidation has transformed the world of wine and spirits distribution in the US. While everyone knows that consolidation happened, far fewer people understand the trends that pushed a few US wholesalers to achieve scale. Dave Lane and Tracy Aldworth, senior leaders from Republic National Distributing Company, discuss the drivers behind the structural changes to the middle tier and how their com...

KK Hall, Global Brand Vice President for Maker's Mark, and Charles Gibb, Fever-Tree's North America CEO, joined forces to create a blood orange ginger beer formulated especially to pair with Maker's Mark. So far, it seems like the project has exceeded expectations, bringing bourbon into new consumption occasions that appeal to broader audiences and helping both brands grab the attention of retaile...

Josh Cellars is arguably the most successful wine brand of this generation, and Deutsch did much of that work while the overall industry was struggling. How did they do it? The company's President, Tom Steffanci, and Chief Brand Officer, Dan Kleinman, discuss their unique approach to brand building, distribution, the positioning of the wine category, and the meticulous measurements they use to max...

Adapted from a live webinar hosted by Rabobank in July, this unique episode brings together experts from The Wine Group, Jackson Family Wines, and Crimson Wine Group, who joined forces to share best practices on lightweighting or "right-weighting" glass packaging. The panel includes: Tony Maan, Vice President of Supplier Development at The Wine Group  Colleen Fitzgerald, chenin blanc viognier wine...

Charles Gibb, CEO of Fever-Tree North America, offers an update on the mixers market,   exploring how this fast-growing segment intersects with consumer trends, retailer objectives, and distribution. And, of course, we discuss the strategy that propelled a premium mixer brand into a billion-dollar company.   Rabobank clients can sign up for our research via this link:   Knowledge. Rabobank.com Not...

With help from industry icons Harry Schuhmacher and Sarah Barrett, the folks responsible for publications like Beer Business Daily and Wine & Spirits Business Daily , we use a fitting format, a draft, to debate the toughest and the most helpful trends and topics facing beer distributors in 2024. Rabobank clients can sign up for our research via this link: knowledge.rabobank.com Note: The content a...

Rabobank's senior market strategist, Christian Lawrence, returns for his record-setting tenth appearance on the podcast to discuss major economic trends like inflation, labor markets, consumer spending, credit card debt, and the potential impact of elections and geopolitics around the globe.     Rabobank clients can sign up for our research via this link: Research. Rabobank.com Note: The content a...