Publisher’s Toast: Being Held to Account

First the good news. We just returned from a stellar and overwhelming Expo West. The excitement and energy were something to behold. Over 70,000 attendees packed the halls over the 4 -day trade show. It was hard to make your way through the North Hall the first day, though someone pointed out to me that the reason was that the other halls weren’t open so many exhibitors from there came over to browse. The logic of it made sense to me. For whatever reason, it was packed. I visited dozens of friends, some new but most relationships accumulated from over 30 years running around in this business. It was a great way to benchmark my career in beverages. Catching up was my favorite part of the show. For the BevNET team, the show was an incredible success. The editorial team covered the width and depth of Expo West in stride, and the reporting was second to none. I always marvel how they can cover such a vast event with substance, and insights.

In the lead up to Anaheim, I was reaching out to the exhibitors to take their pulse of their expectations, and to a brand, it was high. Yet, I also heard some dark clouds in many conversations. These talks continued in Anaheim with many brands. While the general drift was that business was going strong, there were cautionary tales to consider.

Over the past few years, funding, before, during and after the pandemic, was difficult. Then the floodgates opened and raising capital was not an issue. Investment dollars poured in. Just going to our BevNET site, you saw article upon article of rounds of funding coming in. Yet, there is always a price to pay and in my conversations, paying the piper was just around the corner. I heard from dozens of companies that investors were becoming impatient, wondering where the returns were for the money they’ve put in. The push was for profitability – investors are tired of their portfolios being in the red, and wanted some green. Many of the marketers said they had to curtail some of their marketing dollars, hold back on new product launches and sales pushes into new markets to satisfy a restless quest for accountability for their investments.

While, as a whole, business is strong and growing, the murmurs I heard could be just the tip of the iceberg. I hope I’m wrong and that business as usual will continue, but investors have a different agenda. I hope we can maintain a balance, to support the brands, but it’s incumbent that the brands do their part and maximize their brands’ value and balance sheet.