WEBVTT - The Emergence of Flavored Spirits

0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.960
<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim

0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.280
<v Speaker 1>Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.

0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.240
<v Speaker 2>Well, I want to start big. Broadly, the global luxury

0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:11.560
<v Speaker 2>wines and spirits market is driven by factors such as

0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:14.520
<v Speaker 2>the growth and interest in premium and unique products, the

0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.360
<v Speaker 2>rise in demand for organic and sustainable products, and the

0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.920
<v Speaker 2>popularity of experiential and it generated more than two hundred

0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.520
<v Speaker 2>and twenty nine billion in twenty twenty one, anticipated to

0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:27.120
<v Speaker 2>generate nearly four hundred and fifteen billion by twenty thirty one,

0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.680
<v Speaker 2>a compound annual growth rate of about six point two

0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:33.760
<v Speaker 2>percent from that tier time period, or from twenty twenty

0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:36.479
<v Speaker 2>two to twenty twenty thirty one. That's from Allied Market Research.

0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:37.680
<v Speaker 3>So big market.

0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:39.959
<v Speaker 2>We know we all drank a lot during the pandemic.

0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.960
<v Speaker 2>We're still kind of figuring out what normal is post pandemic.

0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:44.880
<v Speaker 2>So let's get to it. Because we have a perfect

0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:47.479
<v Speaker 2>guest who is a front seat to this industry, delighted

0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:50.320
<v Speaker 2>to have with us, Anne Mckergey. She is CEO of

0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.360
<v Speaker 2>Perno Ricard North America. And as I said, joining us

0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:54.800
<v Speaker 2>here in studio, welcome.

0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.240
<v Speaker 3>Welcome, welcome, great to be here.

0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:59.680
<v Speaker 2>Carol. I love your background. I didn't even know this

0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:04.240
<v Speaker 2>term FMCG fast moving consumer good space. So you've worked

0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:10.120
<v Speaker 2>at Craft Foods, Sales, Marketing, General Management, PepsiCo SG SC Johnson.

0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.320
<v Speaker 2>Excuse me, really, Senior Roles, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Global

0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.280
<v Speaker 2>Chief Commercial Officer at SC Johnson, Present Global Snacks and

0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:21.280
<v Speaker 2>Global inside of PepsiCo. What the heck makes something a

0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.760
<v Speaker 2>fast moving consumer good? Like I get it with alcohol, baby.

0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:26.440
<v Speaker 3>Perfect, But what makes it that?

0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.960
<v Speaker 1>Well, what's interesting is alcohol is actually not FMCG, it's

0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.880
<v Speaker 1>just CpG. Fast is like stuff that just flies off

0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.840
<v Speaker 1>in a grocery store, like lazed potato chips. A thousand

0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:38.240
<v Speaker 1>units per store per week.

0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:39.080
<v Speaker 3>That's fast.

0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.160
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god. So it's how do you then think

0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:45.080
<v Speaker 2>about like something marketing sales that kind of a good

0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.199
<v Speaker 2>or do you even have to because it just moves

0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:47.680
<v Speaker 2>so quickly.

0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:50.840
<v Speaker 1>It would just move so quickly, yeah, whereas it in

0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.960
<v Speaker 1>Spirits we don't move a thousand units for store per week.

0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.000
<v Speaker 1>But you know, but we have very high price points.

0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.280
<v Speaker 1>So even we might move not that fast, we make

0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:01.280
<v Speaker 1>a lot of money.

0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.360
<v Speaker 4>And I got to cut right to the chase. Screwball, whiskey.

0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.840
<v Speaker 4>I'm fascinated with you for those who are unfamiliar, it's

0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:11.120
<v Speaker 4>peanut butter flavored whiskey. I picture a commercial. You know

0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.399
<v Speaker 4>you got whiskey, my peanut butter. You got peanut butter.

0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.880
<v Speaker 4>Now I know you guys acquired the brand. I can't

0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.000
<v Speaker 4>help but think though, if an R and D person

0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:24.880
<v Speaker 4>in your company had come up with that, what your

0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.359
<v Speaker 4>reaction would because it doesn't sound like something that would

0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.119
<v Speaker 4>be a success, kind of a surprising success exactly.

0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.240
<v Speaker 1>It's like nobody thought people needed wheels on suitcases, but

0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:33.720
<v Speaker 1>here we are.

0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.800
<v Speaker 3>We're all using them. So you know, Screwball Whiskey.

0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.079
<v Speaker 1>First of all, it's what an incredible gem, right, it

0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:43.200
<v Speaker 1>was before we bought it the third fastest growing independent

0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:47.040
<v Speaker 1>brand behind Tito's and Casa Zuol.

0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:49.360
<v Speaker 3>It's amazing. Yeah, And the.

0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.640
<v Speaker 1>Founders, who are amazing people, right, They gave their heart

0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:58.359
<v Speaker 1>and soul into that brand. And the reason that the

0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.560
<v Speaker 1>brand even exists did was the founder Steve. He is

0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:06.440
<v Speaker 1>from Cambodia and came through refugee camps et ceterater. I'm

0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:07.400
<v Speaker 1>gonna make a long story short.

0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:12.680
<v Speaker 2>No, no, it's a really facing, beautiful story.

0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.240
<v Speaker 1>So it comes from Cambodia. He has polio. His parents

0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.160
<v Speaker 1>do everything to get him here. They live in refuge

0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:23.519
<v Speaker 1>refugee camps. Finally they come to Houston and the very

0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.000
<v Speaker 1>first thing they give him is a peanut butter sandwich,

0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.799
<v Speaker 1>and for him, peanut butter represents freedom, and so he

0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.040
<v Speaker 1>has this passion about peanut butter, and you know, then

0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.440
<v Speaker 1>he gets into the restaurant business and he just he

0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:42.440
<v Speaker 1>takes Jamison coincidentally and takes peanut butter and like puts

0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.800
<v Speaker 1>the two together and creates Screwball. And this thing is

0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.760
<v Speaker 1>it's it's electric. It went on fire and if and

0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:54.040
<v Speaker 1>the reason why is because the United States consumer a

0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.360
<v Speaker 1>loves flavored whiskey number one, number two. We have a

0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.360
<v Speaker 1>very sweet palette versus the rest of the world. So

0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.320
<v Speaker 1>when people drink peanut butter whiskey with screwball, they're like

0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:05.640
<v Speaker 1>and then they put in their mouth and they.

0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:06.960
<v Speaker 3>Go, oh, my god, that's amazing.

0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:09.480
<v Speaker 4>That was my raction. You hear about it and you're like,

0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:11.240
<v Speaker 4>wait what, and then you try it and it's like, oh,

0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:12.360
<v Speaker 4>we had.

0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.680
<v Speaker 2>We had the founders of Duke and Dame salted caramel

0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.719
<v Speaker 2>whiskey and the same thing. We're like, I don't get it.

0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:21.560
<v Speaker 2>They actually brought us some like r I'm just gonna

0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:23.960
<v Speaker 2>put it out there, but no, no, no, but it

0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.880
<v Speaker 2>was really interesting. I take no, no, no, no. I

0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.960
<v Speaker 2>don't like whiskey. I like I like bourbon, but I

0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.040
<v Speaker 2>don't like whiskey, and like that just what it did

0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:37.400
<v Speaker 2>to the tone. And that's exactly what you were talking about.

0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:42.480
<v Speaker 2>So people are playing is it easier to acquire versus

0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:43.560
<v Speaker 2>play around in a lab?

0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.200
<v Speaker 1>You know, we do both, right because the other you know,

0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:50.039
<v Speaker 1>flavored whiskey that's been a huge success for us has

0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:54.039
<v Speaker 1>been Jamison orange and this whole trend around old fashions

0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:57.960
<v Speaker 1>and citrus and whiskey and and unlike other kind of

0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.680
<v Speaker 1>flavored whiskeys, jamison is very whiskey forward. But when you

0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.760
<v Speaker 1>smell it, you smell the rind of the orange you

0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:06.760
<v Speaker 1>put in your mouth. You taste that whiskey and that

0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:11.000
<v Speaker 1>orange after to it's just heaven. So there's becoming more

0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:15.400
<v Speaker 1>kind of I would say, artisan, more invention around flavored whiskey.

0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:16.480
<v Speaker 3>So we do both.

0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.320
<v Speaker 2>What's the premium on acquisitions right now? Because I feel

0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.640
<v Speaker 2>like these specialty liqueurs and people who are experimenting coming

0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:26.039
<v Speaker 2>up with something different they're in people want them companies

0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:26.400
<v Speaker 2>want them.

0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:27.960
<v Speaker 3>They really do. And I will tell you it's kind

0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:29.640
<v Speaker 3>of all over the board. And I would tell.

0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:33.480
<v Speaker 1>You because tequilas have exploded some of the recent acquisition.

0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:35.240
<v Speaker 3>It's huge, no offense.

0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:37.839
<v Speaker 2>Celebrities love you. George Clooney loved you. But I mean

0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:39.719
<v Speaker 2>it feels like everybody's creating a tequila.

0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:43.040
<v Speaker 1>They are And what's really matters is quality tequila. That's

0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:44.680
<v Speaker 1>where we are now, right, That's what's going to win

0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.320
<v Speaker 1>in the end. So we just bought Codigo, which is

0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.719
<v Speaker 1>a very high end, super premium. It's got this Rose

0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.440
<v Speaker 1>believe it or not, Rose tequila. Oh wait till you

0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.040
<v Speaker 1>put it in your mouth. So it's it's now about.

0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:57.720
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't have to go to margarita.

0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:00.719
<v Speaker 1>No, it does not actually tell you about what could

0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:02.800
<v Speaker 1>go into a margarita that you wouldn't expect. But I'll

0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:03.640
<v Speaker 1>come to that in a second.

0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:04.440
<v Speaker 4>Is it peanut butter?

0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:09.600
<v Speaker 1>No, it's mescal, oh Dell mcgae mescal, which is the

0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.480
<v Speaker 1>number one mescal Jazaars. But you make a margarita with it,

0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.520
<v Speaker 1>and it's got that little extra smoke, it's unbelievable.

0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:17.400
<v Speaker 2>I have to get it from my brother.

0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:18.680
<v Speaker 3>He's a great Margarita make.

0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.839
<v Speaker 1>Oh yes, and so I will tell you now is

0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.040
<v Speaker 1>the time for I mean, people just love to experiment.

0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:28.960
<v Speaker 1>That's post COVID, right because people like they were, you know,

0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.760
<v Speaker 1>makings at all experiential. It's all about the experience, and

0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.120
<v Speaker 1>so having that right portfolio, making sure you're on the

0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.200
<v Speaker 1>trend of all the things that are growing is really

0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:39.479
<v Speaker 1>really critical, you know.

0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.760
<v Speaker 4>And over the years, consolidation has been such a big

0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.080
<v Speaker 4>theme in the beverage industry. You know, all the beer

0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:49.800
<v Speaker 4>companies getting rolled up until we have two majors. I'm

0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.200
<v Speaker 4>kind of surprised to see this Brown Foreman news today.

0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.960
<v Speaker 4>They're selling the Finlandia vodka brand.

0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:56.440
<v Speaker 3>Do you want it?

0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:57.320
<v Speaker 2>Would you want it to know?

0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:02.719
<v Speaker 4>Okay, we have absolutely no I but but are the

0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:07.240
<v Speaker 4>big is the big deal making in this space? Has

0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.680
<v Speaker 4>it run its course? Have all the big deals that

0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:11.720
<v Speaker 4>can be done have they been done? And now it's

0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.520
<v Speaker 4>it's looking for these new growth, small batch type of things.

0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:16.840
<v Speaker 1>Well, no, I think you're going to see it in

0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.960
<v Speaker 1>both areas. So it did not surprise me about the

0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.800
<v Speaker 1>deal today with Coke. You have to understand both Coke

0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.840
<v Speaker 1>and Pepsi, right, having worked at PepsiCo you know, these

0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:31.120
<v Speaker 1>are much narrow margin businesses. A lot of the carbonated

0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:33.920
<v Speaker 1>soft drinks business is declining, so these people are looking

0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.720
<v Speaker 1>for new profit pools. So you're seeing a lot of

0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.200
<v Speaker 1>these companies try to get into the alcohol business. And

0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:43.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, Coke went early with Topa Chico and you know,

0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.520
<v Speaker 1>and so Pepsi's gone with Mountain Dew, and so they're

0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:47.360
<v Speaker 1>not it makes.

0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.320
<v Speaker 4>Sense to you to bold on liquor onto a soft

0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:50.960
<v Speaker 4>drink company.

0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:52.400
<v Speaker 3>So let me put it this way.

0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:53.880
<v Speaker 1>I I love competition.

0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:54.400
<v Speaker 3>Okay.

0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:59.120
<v Speaker 1>We're about to do absolute Ready to Drink with Ocean

0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.640
<v Speaker 1>Spray like it. It's like the biggest thing every retail I.

0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:02.520
<v Speaker 3>Went Ready to Drink.

0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:03.880
<v Speaker 2>I want to talk about that when we.

0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:05.320
<v Speaker 3>But here's the thing.

0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:07.600
<v Speaker 1>The reason they're getting into it is because they need

0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.560
<v Speaker 1>more profit, they need more margin. And what's interesting about

0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.000
<v Speaker 1>vodka right now in the industry is it's declining. The

0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.760
<v Speaker 1>only thing that's growing is too it's declining. Anything that's

0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:19.880
<v Speaker 1>white is declining. Jin vodka, rum all declining, okay, And

0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:22.840
<v Speaker 1>so what's happening is you've got the Spirit company saying, oh,

0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.000
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to be in there, and so but

0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.360
<v Speaker 1>you got these these you know, software companies are like,

0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.920
<v Speaker 1>I want to get in what I would say because

0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm about to take over as chairman of Discus, which

0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.240
<v Speaker 1>is the trade association, and I've said this to some

0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:34.280
<v Speaker 1>of my friends of PepsiCo.

0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:35.280
<v Speaker 3>Do it responsibly.

0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:41.520
<v Speaker 1>I cannot tolerate, under any circumstances brands coming in, you know,

0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:46.440
<v Speaker 1>and using kid packaging, advertising in the kids aisle. It's

0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.680
<v Speaker 1>unacceptable and it you know, we have a responsibility as

0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:50.120
<v Speaker 1>an industry.

0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:52.480
<v Speaker 2>We've seen it with electronic cigarettes. Right, come on, folks

0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.120
<v Speaker 2>like own it app do the responsible thing. Talking with

0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:59.160
<v Speaker 2>Anne mccergey, she is Ceopronovercard North America. She's in our

0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.719
<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Interact Broker studio, and I was thinking about, I mean,

0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:04.920
<v Speaker 2>your brands. I had a list here and I should

0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:09.320
<v Speaker 2>just have you do it absolute Jamison, Kolua, hard liquor, spirits, Champagne.

0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:11.000
<v Speaker 2>I mean I'm leaving out a lot. I think there's

0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:14.920
<v Speaker 2>two hundred and forty brands overall. We just talked about Screwball,

0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.560
<v Speaker 2>super Premium peanut butter flavored American whiskey. How do you

0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:24.240
<v Speaker 2>think about changes to the portfolio and whether it's expansions,

0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:25.760
<v Speaker 2>getting rid of how do you think about it?

0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.160
<v Speaker 1>So you know what's great about our portfolio is it's

0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.600
<v Speaker 1>very premium and we have and you want to keep that,

0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:34.480
<v Speaker 1>and we want to really keep that because if you

0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.040
<v Speaker 1>look at the two buck check, no, well you know,

0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.000
<v Speaker 1>good for train jows. Okay, So but what I tell

0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.679
<v Speaker 1>you is when you think about consumption of alcohol, right,

0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:45.640
<v Speaker 1>we all don't drink the same thing.

0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:46.360
<v Speaker 3>Every time we drink.

0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.320
<v Speaker 1>When we want to celebrate, we want to drink champagne, right,

0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.839
<v Speaker 1>we want to just relax and unwined. We might want

0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:52.520
<v Speaker 1>to glass a bourbon.

0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:52.760
<v Speaker 3>Right.

0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:54.719
<v Speaker 1>When we want to impress somebody, we might want to

0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:56.360
<v Speaker 1>take out a very high end cognac.

0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:56.520
<v Speaker 4>Right.

0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.040
<v Speaker 1>Nobody drinks the same thing. Why they drink is the

0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.800
<v Speaker 1>context in which they're in. So when you have the

0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:07.040
<v Speaker 1>right premium portfolio that goes across all these different occasions,

0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.760
<v Speaker 1>you actually have an advantage. And our strategy for no

0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:15.040
<v Speaker 1>Recard is literally to activate more brands than our competition

0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.959
<v Speaker 1>with the same cost to serve. So, but you have

0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.480
<v Speaker 1>to do that if you know the science behind the demand,

0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.360
<v Speaker 1>which brand belongs in which occasion, so you don't cannibalize yourself.

0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:25.800
<v Speaker 3>So that is.

0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.000
<v Speaker 2>Certain brands are really out front and center at certain

0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:29.240
<v Speaker 2>times of the year, if you will.

0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:33.760
<v Speaker 1>So for instance, during Saint Patrick's Day, it's Jamison. Right

0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.720
<v Speaker 1>in the summer, you're drinking Malibu, right, So there are seasons,

0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:41.040
<v Speaker 1>there are occasions. Sometimes some occasions are year long, right,

0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.600
<v Speaker 1>So you have to then devise a portfolio, and that's

0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.240
<v Speaker 1>how you decide which brands you buy and which ones

0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:47.679
<v Speaker 1>you sell.

0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.760
<v Speaker 4>Your business model. It's like that Humble Wamba song. You know,

0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:58.160
<v Speaker 4>you got a whiskey drink. But at the same time,

0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.600
<v Speaker 4>you know, we all do drink different drinks at different

0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.240
<v Speaker 4>times for different occasions. But also just in general, I

0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:08.360
<v Speaker 4>get the impression that liquor consumers are a fickle group.

0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.360
<v Speaker 4>You know, one year it's craft beer is the hot thing,

0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.800
<v Speaker 4>the next year it's Seltzers, the next year it's fine wine.

0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:17.800
<v Speaker 4>So how do you get ahead of that as an

0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:19.000
<v Speaker 4>executive in this industry.

0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.000
<v Speaker 1>So we actually monitor the trends around how people are

0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.800
<v Speaker 1>drinking in segments. So on average, in any given month,

0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.599
<v Speaker 1>a consumer will drink about forty five drinks. Okay, that

0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.520
<v Speaker 1>includes everything, Okay, a month a month, right.

0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:36.000
<v Speaker 2>So now Friday night, I am mega No, I'm a

0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.079
<v Speaker 2>mega lightweight, but.

0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.280
<v Speaker 1>What we've seen this is on average, right, some people

0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.800
<v Speaker 1>drink wait less. So what you see on average is

0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.000
<v Speaker 1>before the pandemic, forty five of those drinks were twenty

0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.000
<v Speaker 1>of them were beer. Okay, after the pandemic, they've lost

0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.560
<v Speaker 1>two whole drinks. There's only eighteen of them now for beer.

0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:58.400
<v Speaker 1>And what gained was your spirit RTDs, spirits themselves.

0:11:58.520 --> 0:11:59.520
<v Speaker 3>Wine also lost.

0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's on fire. It's on fire because people are

0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.840
<v Speaker 1>walking away from beer. Then they went to malted RTDs.

0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:07.480
<v Speaker 1>But they're like, eh, taste isn't so great?

0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.440
<v Speaker 2>How much is that growing? The rtd my god, for

0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:11.319
<v Speaker 2>you guys.

0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.040
<v Speaker 1>For us, it's exponential growth. It's like fifty percent, Like

0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.040
<v Speaker 1>it's huge every year. Yeah, it's huge, but off a

0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.280
<v Speaker 1>small base, off a small base, a small base.

0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:20.640
<v Speaker 2>Okay, could it be a bigger base.

0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:22.160
<v Speaker 3>It could very much a bigger base.

0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.440
<v Speaker 1>I mean, we have RTDs in absolute, we have it

0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.480
<v Speaker 1>in Malibu, Jamison and an Absolute. We're just about to

0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.760
<v Speaker 1>launch our ready to drink with Ocean Spray. You know,

0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:32.800
<v Speaker 1>so you think about you know, we were talking about

0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.120
<v Speaker 1>the you know, the wonderful cocktail that we're all used to,

0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:40.400
<v Speaker 1>which is the Cosmo and so it's here's the big thing.

0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:45.560
<v Speaker 1>Consumers post pandemic want cocktails conveniently period.

0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:46.160
<v Speaker 3>That's what it is.

0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:47.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm not a good I know people who are

0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.040
<v Speaker 2>really into it and they get the gear and they're

0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.040
<v Speaker 2>like love it. I'm like, just give me the bottle,

0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:52.160
<v Speaker 2>let me throw it over some ice.

0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.040
<v Speaker 1>I'll tell you a great example. So this helps you

0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.360
<v Speaker 1>understand the occasion. Women will get together, call it once

0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:00.679
<v Speaker 1>a week, they'll have book club, whatever, They'll drink their

0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:01.520
<v Speaker 1>glass of Chardenay.

0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.000
<v Speaker 3>And that's fine because it's easy to pour.

0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.200
<v Speaker 1>You know, after week, after a week of shardin, you're like,

0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.680
<v Speaker 1>I really want a cocktail, but nobody wants to make

0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:13.280
<v Speaker 1>a cocktail. So we launched Ready to Drink Altos margarita

0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:15.959
<v Speaker 1>and literally all you do is pour it like you

0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:19.000
<v Speaker 1>would wine, and it's an instant margarita. And I'm telling you,

0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.439
<v Speaker 1>this thing is bar quality. And so now we're sourcing

0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.520
<v Speaker 1>from wine as a as a tequila.

0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.719
<v Speaker 2>It's pretty wild, Like you just get your head around it.

0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.760
<v Speaker 2>But I sampled some over this summer and was really

0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.400
<v Speaker 2>surprised at how good they were. Listen, we'd be remiss,

0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:38.640
<v Speaker 2>We're Bloomberg Booze great leading indicator, especially because you play

0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.600
<v Speaker 2>into the premium side of things of how the luxury

0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.080
<v Speaker 2>market is going. Right now, how are the numbers in

0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.880
<v Speaker 2>terms of this economy and then going into.

0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:47.320
<v Speaker 3>Next year, how would you describe it? How are you

0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:47.800
<v Speaker 3>seeing it?

0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:52.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so you know, well, we're getting past COVID, right,

0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.240
<v Speaker 1>and COVID was a big boom. People were stocking up,

0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.760
<v Speaker 1>et cetera, et cetera. The economy has been tough. We're

0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.640
<v Speaker 1>seeing retailers actually bring down their inventories a bit because

0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:03.880
<v Speaker 1>it's the cost of capital with interest rates is really

0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:04.360
<v Speaker 1>really hard.

0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:05.160
<v Speaker 3>That's interesting.

0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:07.960
<v Speaker 1>We have the whole we have that whole global supply

0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:08.680
<v Speaker 1>chain crisis.

0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:09.520
<v Speaker 3>Now that's over.

0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.520
<v Speaker 1>So what's what's happening is we're seeing resiliency in consumers drinking,

0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:16.920
<v Speaker 1>so you know, the sellout and what people are consuming.

0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.360
<v Speaker 1>But now the inventory situation is kind of, you know,

0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:24.280
<v Speaker 1>kind of settling out. So when you look at the numbers,

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.920
<v Speaker 1>you know, from a net sales or a shipment's perspective,

0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:29.600
<v Speaker 1>it's lower than actually what people are buying because there's

0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.760
<v Speaker 1>a little bit of over inventory in the industry.

0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:33.000
<v Speaker 3>But if you ask me.

0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.000
<v Speaker 1>Long term, you said, those numbers in the beginning of

0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.520
<v Speaker 1>the program, like about six percent kagger right, right, pre pandemic.

0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.680
<v Speaker 1>That's we were going four or five percent every year.

0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:43.680
<v Speaker 1>In the pandemic, it was double digits.

0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:43.880
<v Speaker 3>Right.

0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.360
<v Speaker 1>This is now the post COVID kind of shakeout, and

0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.240
<v Speaker 1>I think as you move forward, you're going to go

0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:50.640
<v Speaker 1>right back to that forty five percent.

0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.560
<v Speaker 2>I love hearing about this. You've given us a snapshot

0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.800
<v Speaker 2>on the economy. You and I and Mike we're talking

0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:57.960
<v Speaker 2>the break about drinking responsibly. You guys have a campaign.

0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:00.440
<v Speaker 2>We have about forty five fifty seconds left here, just

0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:01.280
<v Speaker 2>talk to us about that.

0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:01.680
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:03.520
<v Speaker 2>So I feel like you can't do one without the other.

0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:03.960
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.600
<v Speaker 1>So we believe on return on responsibility as much as

0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.320
<v Speaker 1>return on investment. Everything from working with the government to

0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.680
<v Speaker 1>get the Halt Right Act, to get breathalyzers and cars

0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.200
<v Speaker 1>so you cannot drive if you are drunk. We do

0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:18.720
<v Speaker 1>a safe Nights program. We actually donated something called Engage

0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:21.880
<v Speaker 1>Responsibly to stop hate online.

0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:23.320
<v Speaker 3>And you know, we.

0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.960
<v Speaker 1>We're trying to do everything that we can to be responsible.

0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:28.800
<v Speaker 1>And you know, this call out to all my other competitors.

0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.360
<v Speaker 1>Let's we're working together. Let's work together. Let's make it

0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:31.760
<v Speaker 1>the right thing.

0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:33.440
<v Speaker 2>I love it. So cars are going to be equipped

0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.880
<v Speaker 2>you cannot start your car if you have alcohol. When

0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:37.480
<v Speaker 2>do we get this?

0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.320
<v Speaker 1>It's a law and now the car companies are trying

0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.480
<v Speaker 1>to figure out can get it done exactly?

0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.280
<v Speaker 2>Got the UAW out of the way. Let's get this together.

0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:47.880
<v Speaker 2>I know that that is a very important issue for you,

0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.720
<v Speaker 2>and we so appreciate you coming in. This was fine.

0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.920
<v Speaker 3>Thank you. I promise with champagne you got it.

0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:59.240
<v Speaker 1>Next time I will be I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.120
<v Speaker 2>This was a great way to wrap up. It's been

0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.160
<v Speaker 2>so far a pretty crazy week. Ann Mckerzey. She is

0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.760
<v Speaker 2>CEO pronober Card North America. In her Blueberg Interactive Brokers studio,

0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.440
<v Speaker 2>Carol Master Mike Reagan, this is Blueberg