Publisher’s Toast: A Joyous Start to 2019

In this column, I’m breaking the news of a most joyous note to my life. My daughter Leigh and her husband Joe have blessed me with my first grandchild, a darling girl, Isabel. As most of you who are parents and grandparents know, there is no better or more profound feeling than bringing a child into this world. It puts into perspective what is really important and meaningful to our existence. I am on cloud nine and don’t expect to come down anytime soon.

I make my living chronicling the beverage arena, so now, I must share thoughts as the year rolls out. Last year was a strong one for the industry. The number of launches was staggering. Innovation soared, and the drive for healthfulness, functionality and efficacy was unabated. We at BevNET have been introduced to more products than we can sample, too many to review. It’s been a dynamic time. The marketplace couldn’t be stronger.

I was in awe of the amount of money that channeled into the hundreds or new brands. Between friends, families, angels, private and institutional money, it seemed that so many new brands could tap into the financial pot of gold. This clearly isn’t always the case as I’m often called to try to connect fledgling entrepreneurs to the money spigots. But for now, it feels more the rule than the exception. It allows these innovators to bring hopefully successful brands to market. Now it gets tough, however – turning the idea into execution.

While all these investments are well and good, the beverage industry runs on a simple premise of garnering distribution and retail penetration. There are just so many brands that can be taken on and so much shelf space devoted to them. The amount of distributors and wholesalers hasn’t miraculously expanded and while retailers grow their footprints, it isn’t enough to accommodate all the new entries. Also, when a new brand is added to the mix, it’s at the expense of existing brands. Yes, I’ve seen many brands go the online Amazon and e-commerce route, but that doesn’t give enough volume to enable the new guys to make permanent inroads.

This is a classic case of too much of a good thing. Brands are easily launched, and financially supported, but can they get the penetration into the market and fight the clutter. For all their sakes, I hope so, but for all their creativity, they need the block and tackling of the industry.