Third U.S. Beverage Alcohol Forum Held at WSWA

The third annual U.S. Beverage Alcohol Forum was held at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) 70th Annual Convention & Exposition April 30. The USBAF is a partnership between WSWA and the U.S. Drinks Conference, in collaboration with Brand Action Team, Next Level Marketing and MHW, Ltd. Cheers, along with sister publications Beverage Dynamics and Stateways, is a media sponsor of the event.

The Forum was led by industry experts who covered topics such as trends, technology, digital marketing and distribution of wine and spirits brands in America. Over 200 delegates attended the event’€”a significant increase over the prior year, according to participants. Attendees represented importers, suppliers, wholesalers and on- and off-premise accounts from all over the world.

One of the topics covered was how brands can avoid the common mistakes facing many wine and spirit brands entering the U.S. market for the first time. Moderator John Baudette, president/CEO of MHW, Ltd., advised attendees to focus resources on only a few markets at the start, monitor them closely to see what is working to get the product to turn at retail and make sure that there are funds available to support the brand long term.

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‘€œYou only have one chance when introducing a product to the U.S.,’€ Baudette said. ‘€œPerform due diligence on the front end, pick the market that will give you the most success and strive to generate measurable results in that area.’€

Other sessions covered trends of the U.S. beverage alcohol market, emerging digital tools suppliers are using to monitor and manage growth and digital retail marketing.

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Read the U.S. Beverage Alcohol Forum full release here.

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