OvareVentures, a Private Equity Firm, Invests in Brooklyn-based Fort Hamilton Distillery

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Fort Hamilton was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and distiller Alex Clark, who was formerly instrumental in the launch and growth of Brooklyn’s Widow Jane distillery.  Terms of the investment weren’t disclosed.

Fort Hamilton whiskies are distilled from local rye grain, corn and malted barley in a traditional New York style. They are then barreled at a low proof and always non-chill filtered to achieve optimal flavor and color.

The company also operates a Distillery and Tasting Room in Industry City in Brooklyn  and plans to release its first “New World” style gin later in 2021. Fort Hamilton’s products are currently distributed in New York, New Jersey, California, Kentucky, Connecticut, Indiana and Pennsylvania and are shipped nationwide.

OvareVentures will provide capital investment and several OvareGroup companies will provide creative and marketing services, including strategy, media buying and creative development to propel and scale Fort Hamilton’s quickly growing business.

Fort Hamilton’s owner, Alex Clark, says, “We have faithfully recreated a traditional New York Rye style that existed when classic cocktails (like Manhattans) were being invented. Although our products have received widespread acclaim, breaking into the spirits business is challenging and we’re confident that the support provided by OvareVentures and its team of agencies will help us gain national distribution and sales.”

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Crystal Ridge Distillery Launches Canned Cocktails

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The Hot Springs, Ark., distillery’s “The Pack” is a four-pack that includes blueberry, raspberry and orange canned vodka sodas at 9% alcohol by volume made with the distillery’s premium 63 Vodka.

“We are thrilled to launch our new canned drinks and expand our product offerings,” said Danny Bradley, owner of Crystal Ridge Distillery. “After pivoting greatly during the pandemic, we are back to the business we love: sharing our moonshine and spirits and providing a place for friends and families to gather.”

The product is available both online and in five area liquor stores.

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Eastside Distilling Plans to Double Shares to Fund Growth

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Eastside Distilling Inc., Portland, Ore., is asking shareholders to approve doubling its share outstanding as part of a three-year strategic brand that involves transforming its craft canning and bottling business and using the resulting cash flow to expand distribution and accelerate growth of the company’s four spirits brands, Portland Potato Vodka, Burnside, Eastside and Azuñia.

To build its craft canning and bottling business, Eastside plan to expand its mobile capability and add capability in can printing, pasteurization and a high-speed fixed canning location.

In a powerpoint presentation for investors, the company noted it had increased its debt to more than $25 million in a series of acquisitions including Big Bottom Distilling, and Motherload in 2017, the Redneck Riviera license agreement in 2019, and its craft canning and bottling business and Azunia Tequila in 2019.

Eastside said its new management team has divested the Redneck Riviera brand, a move that enabled Eastside to reduce debt, its need for working capital and its cash burn rate.  The new strategic plan calls for discontinuing deep discounts for Azunia, launching a new Eastside brand to deplete barrel inventory build a high-margin opportunity, reinventing its craft canning and bottling business.

Most importantly, perhaps, Eastside said it will change its focus from a “high-cost national chain strategy to cost-effective micro strategy of dominating markets we choose to serve.”

The plan is already seeing results, Eastside said, with earnings before tax moving toward $1 million this year, a sharp reversal from a $15 million loss in 2019.  Also, the company forecasts EBITDA to be positive this year, a sharp reversal from a $6.5 million EBITDA lost in 2019.  And it expects to have more than $1 million cash on hand at year-end, vs. cash last year-end being below $1 million.

The company’s new vision is to “be the one premium, preferred and ‘scaled’ craft spirits and canning company in the Western United States, dominating the markets and segments we choose to serve.”

Eastside plans to triple its revenue, to $69 million in 2024 from $$23 million in 2022. It projects its craft spirits wholesale business growing at a 33.7% CAGR from 2019 to 2025, and its contract canning business growing at a 10% CAGR/

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Jackson Family Signs 3 New Distributors in Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Jackson Family Wines said it’s products will be distributed in Illinois by Romano Beverage which will debut a new statewide distributor focused on premium wines and spirits.  In Minnesota, JFW is returning to Johnson Brothers, and in Pennsylvania by Southern Glazer’s Wines & Spirits. 

Jackson Family Wines maintains distributor alignment with Republic National Distributing Co. in 13 major markets as well as Breakthru Beverage in a half dozen other states. “We’ve always gone to route in each state separately,” noted Bill O’Connor, Jackson Family’s sales director, “and while these moves will shake things up a bit in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic, it will be healthy overall for our award-winning portfolio.”

Jess Jackson and Lynn Johnson, the late founders of JFW and Johnson Brothers, respectively, were friends and partners throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s and early 2000’s.  The move back to Johnson Brothers was a “natural fit” according to O’Connor.

Jackson Family Wines is currently distributed by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, which won the business in Pennsylvania, in 13 major markets and the Jackson family has been working with Wayne Chaplin and his family for nearly 20 years.

 

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Swonger Praises Introduction of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Chris Swonger, president/ceo, Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., and Responsibility.org said the measure includes provisions to stop preventable impaired driving deaths, injuries and crashes.

Among its provisions, it includes provisions to establish a federal rulemaking process to implement advanced impaired driving prevention technology in new vehicles, which could save 9,400 lives annually, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

“This more than 15-year effort to design vehicles that prevent impaired driving is close to reality, and we are proud to champion this historic legislation with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD),” Swonger said, adding:

“The broadly supported Multiple Substance Impaired Driving Prevention Act is also included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill.  This legislation will make funding available to states to maximize innovative programs and technology to eliminate multiple substance-impaired driving. Additionally, it will identify, monitor, and treat impaired drivers which is key to preventing recurrence. It directs a GAO study to improve national reporting of impaired driving arrest and citation data into federal databases.

“Driving impaired by one substance is dangerous,” Swonger said, “but combining substances leads to a multiplicative effect on driver impairment and can dramatically increase crash risk. This bill positions states to address impaired driving in all forms, which is vital to address this evolving and growing threat on our roads.

This legislation also improves the ignition interlock incentive grants, maximizing the most effective countermeasures to stop convicted impaired drivers from re-offending, and includes provisions to address cannabis impaired driving and improve drug-impaired driving data collection.

Preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows the steepest rise in total traffic deaths since 2007, with a 7%  increase in 2020 due to impaired driving, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, and other risky driving behaviors. Additionally, police-reported alcohol-involved fatalities jumped by 9%, and trauma center data from NHTSA shows an increase in serious injuries and deaths involving drivers at high blood alcohol concentration levels and multiple drug combinations.

 

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What New Wine Drinkers Seek From Labels

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

Finding the balance between reassurance and familiarity is one of the toughest challenges vintners face when it comes to wine labels, according to Lulie Halstead, CEO, Wine Intelligence.

In the U.S., the segment that’s youngest and newest to wine — Social Newbies — relies more heavily on centrality and classic wine cues to provide reassurance as they begin their wine journey, she says.

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