Author Archive: Joel Whitaker

Meet Erin Winczura, a Private Equity Investor Behind a Growing Bev/Al Brand

Posted on by

Meet Erin Winczura, the founder and chairman of Ennoble Beverages, which is a U.S. flavored malt beverage producer and a unit of Canterbury Group, which Winczura founded.

She grew up in Canada, went to college there, in Mexico and in Barcelona, where she focused on economics, poly science and business administration.  Canterbury is invested in the beverage, cannabis and wellness space.  Four years ago, she got into alcohol, producing a Bloody Mary that’s an FMB.  Why a Bloody Mary?  Because that’s what she likes and what others in her generation like.  Plus, it’s a lot easier to pop open a can than to make a class Bloody Mary from scratch.

In this podcast, she details her background, and why she thinks now is the time for bev/al products that deliver convenience.  It’s all about, she says, giving people what they want.

Ennoble Beverages is currently in 30 states, looking for distributors in the rest, and hopes to have full U.S. distribution by September.

You can hear her complete story in our podcast.

What Bev/Al Manufacturers Need to Do to Help Bars, Restaurants

Posted on by

While overall beer category sales are challenged in both on and off-premise, growth rates are under even more pressure in traditional On Premise (restaurant and bars), Nielsen researchers report.

For instance, Mexican and Belgium imports are growing at double digit growth rates Off Premise, but only up single digits On Premise, while moderate declines of Domestic Premium Beers Off Premise are much further exacerbated On Premise.

Craft growth rates have decelerated sharply in both channels over the past year, Nielsen finds, but Craft is still about 2.5x better developed (dollar share) in On Premise than in the aggregate of the various Nielsen-measured Off Premise channels.

Ciders have reached almost a 2% share of the Beer plus Flavored Malt Beverage plus Cider category On Premise, vs its 1.3% share Off Premise.

I interviewed Scott Elliott, senior vp, Nielsen CGA, to learn what bars and restaurants must do to meet this challenge — and, equally importantly, what manufacturers must do to support them.

 

Oliver Winery: From a Law Professor’s Hobby to a 400,000-Case Winery

Posted on by

In the inaugural podcast of our new series, you’ll learn:

  • How a law professor’s hobby became a 400,000-case winery.
  • Why Bill Oliver doesn’t need a cold winter to make ice wine, but just one cold day
  • Why Oliver repackaged mead – it was one of Oliver’s first really successful products
  • Bonus: Bill Oliver’s single worst decision.

Welcome

Posted on by

Who makes and sells what you drink?

That’s what this site is all about — the people who make and market alcohol beverages.

All the articles that will be posted here first appeared in my newsletter, Kane’s Beverage News Daily, which is circulated privately to subscribers.  I’ve been covering the alcohol beverage business for more than 30 years, and Kane’s has enjoyed a faithful readership.  We’ve won our share of awards, and broken some truly exclusive news — including one story that detailed how the Obama Administration planned to dismantle the agency that regulates the companies that make, sell and distribute beer, wine and spirits.

Some of those stories are being compiled into a book.  More about that soon!

To learn more about me and my newsletter, click here.

I hope you enjoy the stories that will be posted here.  The first story will be posted July 21.