As of 2021, over 65% of Drizly retailers carry products from Black-owned brands, and these brands’ growth across all Drizly sales makes it clear that supporting brands from diverse owners can pay dividends for retailers, Drizly says.
Since the Black-owned product tag was added on Drizly in 2020, Drizly consumers have increasingly sought out Black-owned brands. Following the launch of the tag in June 2020, daily sales for Drizly’s top-selling Black-owned brands were up anywhere from 40% to 585% over May 2020 daily sales.
The volume of Black-owned brands available to shop on Drizly has also grown dramatically in recent years, with the catalog of Black brands expanding 10% in 2021 over 2020, and a whopping 115% over 2019. The volume of Black-owned SKUs on Drizly likewise grew by 45% in 2021 over 2020. Among Black-owned brands, offerings skew heavily toward the liquor category, which accounts for 57% of Black-owned SKUs; wine and beer hold 37% and 6% of share, respectively.
Both new and existing Black-owned brands are experiencing this growth on Drizly. The McBride Sisters Collection, which includes wines from California and New Zealand in traditional bottle and can formats, scaled 300% within the wine category on Drizly in 2021 alone. Similarly, Uncle Nearest whiskey – a longstanding favorite among whiskey purchasers – increased by 36% of share within the liquor category in 2021.
To drive continued support for Black-owned brands among consumers, the industry needs to make real change too – and part of that equation is evaluating product mix on store shelves. On Drizly, for example, the presence of Black-owned drinks brands is limited to the inventory of its retail partners. Drizly is proactively working with its partners to bring more Black-owned brands onto the platform and to make them more widely available.
Hella Cocktail Company founder Jomaree Pinkard, whose brand has been among Drizly’s most popular Black-owned products since 2020, believes the strategy to satisfy consumers and increasing diversity lies in year-round action. “The challenges will always be at the high level for underrepresented brands,” he says. “The system isn’t operated by underrepresented people – we’re constantly knocking down doors that other people just open with a key.”
Pinkard, whose brand is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022, believes it’s crucial that retailers support Black- and minority-owned brands year-round in order to drive equality and inclusion. “It has to go beyond Black History Month because not only is that cliché, but broader transparency and expanded choice is what consumers are looking for year-round,” he says
Here is a list of some of the fastest-growing black-owned brands, according to Drizly:
- Brough Brothers
- Avec
- Ego Tequila
- Equiano Rum
- LS Cream
- Uncle Nearest
- McBride Sisters Collection
- Hampton Water
- Union Craft Brewing
- Armand de Brignac
- Maison Noir Wines
- Myx Fusions
- Legend Vineyard Exclusives (LVE)
- 18th Street Brewery
- Speakeasy Ales & Lagers
- Loft & Bear
- Earl Stevens Wine
- Green Bench Brewery
- Hella Cocktail Co.
- Rivulet Artisan Pecan Liqueur
- La Fête du Rosé
- Aslina
- Fairvalley Wines
- Brown Estate
- Du Nord Craft Spirits
- House of Mandela Wine
- Plush Vodka
- 18th Street Distillery
- Blackleaf Organic Vodka
- Harlem Brewing Co.
- Edelheiss Wine
- Hogshead Brewery
- White Lion Brewing Company
- Victor George Vodka
- Longevity Wines
- Esrever Wines
- Vanilla Puddin’ Wine
- Vina Sympatica
- Bodkin Wines
- Mal Bien Mezcal
- Coco Sky
- Beach St.
- Shadow Ridge Spirits Co.
- Carbonadi Vodka