Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
How should drinks brands approach sustainability as a strategic business consideration?
Sustainability is increasingly table-stakes rather than a competitive advantage in the drinks industry. Members report it's now a baseline customer expectation rather than a selling point, and most established brands have made it central to their business strategy. Key approaches members are taking: - **Integrate into core strategy** — Make sustainability central to future decision-making and new product development (NPD) from the outset, not as an afterthought. - **Avoid greenwash** — Members emphasize it must be genuinely important (personally and professionally) rather than superficial messaging; authenticity matters. - **Treat as table-stakes** — The consensus is "everyone is doing it these days," meaning sustainability is now an expectation rather than a differentiation tactic. Caveats: The community discussion suggests this is a live, evolving conversation. Members are actively discussing how to implement sustainability meaningfully rather than how to use it as a marketing angle, indicating the landscape is still maturing.
What are the key success factors for getting spirits stocked in on-trade venues?
Contacts alone won't get you stocked—the product, brand positioning, and pricing must work for the venue first. Members emphasize that relationships are helpful but not sufficient; a strong brand reputation is equally critical. **The three pillars of successful on-trade distribution:** - **Desirable brand** — A genuinely strong product with market appeal. Members note that venues won't push products that don't fit their positioning or are perceived as poor quality, and that having a "black book" of contacts is useless if the brand itself is weak. - **Great contacts** — Established relationships with venue owners and decision-makers are valuable but only when paired with a product worth promoting. Members caution against "stretching the friendship" by pitching unsuitable brands. - **Cash** — Capital to support the placement through visibility, activation, events, and consumer engagement once the product is stocked. **Recommended approach:** - **The "Chicken and Egg" strategy** — Identify multiple opportunities with proven volume commitments, bring them to the supplier/wholesaler, and squeeze from both sides (venues and supplier) until the wholesaler is confident the product won't sit on shelves. Only then should the venue take it on. - **Post-stocking execution** — Once in an account, the hard work begins: drive sales through visibility, activation, events, and consumer engagement. Simply getting stocked is only the start. **Key caution:** Going in cold to the market is extremely difficult. Even an experienced on-trade sales person with existing contacts cannot overcome a weak product or poor brand positioning.