Thirsty Thursday's @3PM EST Happy Hour! Every Third Thursday!

Sam Anderson, Jessie Ott, and Heather Ransom discuss the growing importance of the No & Lo space in the beverage industry.

We explore the shift in consumer attitudes towards mindful drinking and the rise of initiatives like Dry January. The conversation highlights the need for hospitality venues and big brands to respond to this sea change and provide inclusive options for non-drinkers.

We also discuss the potential threat from big soda companies entering the No & Lo market. They emphasize the importance of creating experiences and differentiating craft beer to stay relevant in a crowded market.

Overall, the conversation explores the opportunities and challenges in the evolving beverage industry. The conversation explores various aspects of the No & Lo (No and Low Alcohol) movement and its impact on the wine industry. It delves into the future of wine, the challenges of creating non-alcoholic red wine, and the changing experience of drinking.

The conversation also discusses the need for restaurants to adapt to customer preferences and the rise of THC cocktails. Additionally, it highlights the competition from cannabis companies and the importance of building a network and community in the startup world. The conversation concludes with reflections on the personal journey and wishes for the new year.

January 11th, 2024 Happy Hour Happy for All Crawl!

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Host Jessie Ott's Profile on LinkedIn

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Connection
• 1:34 Introductions and Purpose of the Conversation
• 3:23 The Growing Importance of the NOLO Space
• 5:55 Creating a Community for Startups
• 7:42 The Sea Change in the Beverage Industry
• 9:32 The Shift in Consumer Attitudes
• 11:14 The Rise of Dry January and Beyond
• 13:00 The Implications for Hospitality Venues
• 15:03 The Response of Big Brands and Potential Acquisitions
• 17:28 Enhancing the Consumer Experience
• 19:14 The Potential Threat from Big Soda
• 21:39 Capturing the Mindful Drinker
• 23:07 The Role of the Designated Driver
• 24:14 The Importance of Education and Marketing
• 27:09 Creating Instagrammable Moments
• 29:18 The Cyclical Nature of Craft Beer
• 32:41 Differentiating Craft Beer and Adapting to Change
• 35:09 The Impact of THC Products on Craft Beer
• 37:36 The Need for Craft Beer to Pivot and Respond
• 39:49 The Battle for Shelf Space
• 41:09 The Importance of Having a Hook
• 42:12 Personal Reasons for Choosing Non-Alcoholic Wine
• 42:31 The Future of Wine
• 44:19 Exploring NA Wines
• 45:21 Challenges of Creating Non-Alcoholic Red Wine
• 46:19 NOLO as a Complement, Not a Replacement
• 47:19 The Changing Experience of Drinking
• 48:15 Adapting to Customer Preferences
• 49:26 The Rise of THC Cocktails
• 51:18 Competition from Cannabis Companies
• 53:08 Building a Network and Creating Opportunities
• 54:47 The Importance of Feedback and Community
• 58:28 The Journey and Personal Growth
• 59:04 Closing Remarks and New Year Wishes

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:08:06
Jessie
Hello there. Thursday, Thursday community. We have an exciting new segment called Happy Hour. Every third Thursday we're going to have people call in and have different

00:00:08:06 - 00:00:10:12
Jessie
guests and talk about different really cool topics. This

00:00:10:12 - 00:00:11:01
Jessie
first one

00:00:11:13 - 00:00:13:17
Jessie
is with Heather Ransom and Sam Anderson.

00:00:13:17 - 00:00:15:09
Jessie
And we talk about low and no.

00:00:15:09 - 00:00:20:09
Jessie
Thank you for listening and be sure to subscribe to be notified of all new episodes.

00:00:20:10 - 00:00:46:08
Sam
Holidays, everybody. These are my two dear friends, Jesse Ott and Heather Ransom. We got to know each other over the course of the last, I guess, eight months or so. And we met over LinkedIn, believe it or not, which is a wonderful platform for me this year, is I've connected to some wonderful friends and I can straight up call the two of you friends of mine, at least from my point of view here from work, for example.

00:00:46:08 - 00:01:04:18
Jessie
Come on, that's pushing it. You're pushing my buttons over here, of course. And you know what's cool, too, is I just remember that we're all connected through Thursday. Thursday, because you saw Bryant's post. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's awesome.

00:01:04:20 - 00:01:09:00
Sam
Yeah. Matter of fact is, speaking about what's going on in the news. Well, Heather. Hello, Heather.

00:01:09:02 - 00:01:10:15
Heather
Hi. How are you?

00:01:10:17 - 00:01:13:08
Sam
How are you? Been awfully quiet over there.

00:01:13:10 - 00:01:33:23
Heather
Yeah, I'm waiting for the introductions, but, yeah, it's true. It's interesting thinking about reflecting about 2023. We've all created these new relationships around this new energy that we're experiencing in the beverage space. And it's good to make new friends in the early stages because we're all going to need each other as we navigate this sea change, right?

00:01:34:01 - 00:01:52:23
Sam
Yeah. Well, yeah, Why don't we do this To your point, Introduction. So why don't you start, Heather, and introduce yourself, Tell you, tell you who you are, and then just tell who you are and kind of what we're planning here every third Thursday, and then I'll tell you who I am, would say, have a conversation for the next hour or so.

00:01:53:01 - 00:01:53:15
Sam
So I work.

00:01:53:17 - 00:01:58:06
Jessie
Hours, hours before I.

00:01:58:07 - 00:02:03:08
Sam
Get into it. I got plenty of products back here to Mason.

00:02:03:09 - 00:02:07:12
Jessie
So it's just like like, are you or no?

00:02:07:13 - 00:02:14:20
Sam
Well, we'll try to figure that out. And I haven't figured out the I couldn't figure it out. So.

00:02:14:22 - 00:02:17:08
Jessie
Okay, well, I can work on it, too.

00:02:17:10 - 00:02:19:05
Sam
Yeah.

00:02:19:07 - 00:02:21:18
Jessie
I can't help calling. You can.

00:02:21:20 - 00:02:25:04
Sam
Okay. All right, Heather, you're up.

00:02:25:06 - 00:03:03:16
Heather
So well. Hi. My name is Heather Ransom. I am the founder and CEO of Zero Proof. Go Dot com. We are a travel and tourism website and content digital space to essentially documents and help provide support around hospitality venues, adoption of nonalcoholic nolo beverage programing. So part of it is to educate them and to list them. So people who are seeking alternative options to alcoholic beverages can find places that are basically be inclusive in their design.

00:03:03:18 - 00:03:19:20
Heather
And if they aren't yet inclusive, we're going to help them. We're going to teach them as we're kind of be the ambassador or concierge to this new space. So that's kind of what we're up to and happy to be here to working with you guys on a lot of the stuff.

00:03:19:20 - 00:03:42:08
Sam
So that's awesome. Well, I'm excited to start this conversation via this forum. Thirsty Thursdays were kind of everywhere. I'm still in Jesse's center, but this will be our happy hour every third Thursday. So Jesse wants you to introduce yourself to a little bit about who you are and what it is you do and what we're trying to accomplish here.

00:03:42:10 - 00:04:17:05
Jessie
Yeah, sure. Jesse at the host of the Thursday Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern Center Time podcast. But I also have a marketing company where I help brands and restaurants build their brands, help with their menus, that type of thing. I also have a military sales business as well as analytics, so all of that will be forthcoming in Q1, which I've really excited about and kind of spent the last year building it and creating what that looks like.

00:04:17:11 - 00:04:44:05
Jessie
And two things that kind of evolved for me. We're leaning into a couple of different parts of our business and that's the nonalcoholic space, the low and no and sucking. And so those two are really, in my opinion, the next big wave of excitement in our and our business. And I'm really excited to see the Roanoke grows much as it is.

00:04:44:05 - 00:05:05:13
Jessie
And and I'm really I'm really banking in on it for not like money wise, but just seeing it for our industry because I think it's so important for so many people inclusivity. I know Heather and I talked a lot about that in her podcast because I think it's important for everybody, not just in January, not just in October, but for everybody.

00:05:05:15 - 00:05:16:16
Jessie
And I'm really excited about what that looks like in 2024. So I'm super pumped to be working with you guys and helping do what I can to move that forward.

00:05:16:18 - 00:05:28:07
Sam
Great. And then what's the concept we're trying to do here? So every third Thursday, we're going to meet and invite various people to come on. And I mean, it's pretty open forum, right? Anybody can join us, correct?

00:05:28:09 - 00:05:49:19
Jessie
Well, I think what what I've realized too, in our Heather Speaker opinions also, so I'm not speaking for her but what I've noticed like throughout my podcast is a lot of startups, right? We're all startups, we're all trying to do something great in our industry or be a part of something great in our industry. And maybe our audience is.

00:05:49:21 - 00:06:11:11
Jessie
It's just that it's people that are startups. They're feeling the same pain points, they're feeling the same things that we are, and then maybe we have other people that have been there done that and can kind of, you know, advise and help us along the way because, you know, as we all know, bootstrapping is it's only focus group.

00:06:11:13 - 00:06:14:15
Jessie
So I don't know, that's kind of my $0.02 anyway.

00:06:14:17 - 00:06:59:18
Heather
Now for me, I'm seeing it a little differently and the same. So I feel like the biggest opportunity here, there's a lot happening around at least the nolo space that has implications beyond business. There is generational attitudes that are happening and global consciousness that is contributing to the reason we're moving into Nolo. So for me, part of it is looking at it and watching it and reporting on it to the world because it's really hard when you're like in the beginnings of something like this to capture and document this change.

00:06:59:18 - 00:07:16:13
Heather
Like in retrospect, right, 50 years now, now or, or let's just even say back in my twenties when I watched the craft beer movement through this whole thing, there was no precedent. And so we were always like, Watch it like and all like it was like, we're all at the World's Fair. Like, what is all this new stuff going on?

00:07:16:13 - 00:07:37:07
Heather
It was moving so quickly, but nobody was documenting in a way, or reporting on or talking about it like we can now with technologies like this. So I think that the thought leadership and kind of like everybody coming in and bringing their attitudes to the conversation and be like, this is what we're seeing out here and really helping to continue to move forward and support each other through.

00:07:37:07 - 00:07:53:18
Heather
That is kind of what I would like to see on the podcast. And of course I or part of our happy hour, but I also feel like it's moving so fast. We need this. We need this because it's we're not getting the information quick enough because we have to respond quickly as these things are happening. We have to move.

00:07:53:20 - 00:08:01:13
Heather
So we're better as an organism and we're all contributing to that conversation as real time as opposed to Yeah.

00:08:01:15 - 00:08:23:14
Sam
Yeah, yeah. I think you both captured the essence of what we're trying to accomplish, was to have a discussion, right. And the discussion around various topics for me. I'm Sam Anderson. I'm a 37 year beverage expert, so to speak. I'm involved in a lot of different things, as you both know. And you know, in particular this space, the nolo space.

00:08:23:16 - 00:08:48:07
Sam
I actually think it's going to enhance the overall beverage category. Been a lot of chatter this afternoon on LinkedIn, people talking about this to see change, to take words out of your mouth. They're to imagine Anderson talking about she posts about, you know, the consumer's going to change and absolutely the consumers changing. But I don't think it's going to replace, you know, those great whiskeys, those great craft beers or wine.

00:08:48:07 - 00:09:10:17
Sam
I actually think it's going to enhance the consumer experience in terms of what's available out there. And if anything, it's actually going to drive more people to the category because they're going to be able to grab more things and have different experiences. So I look at as a consumption on occasion that consumer penny where they're at and their journey may be another drink.

00:09:10:17 - 00:09:32:16
Sam
That's your journey. Great. Maybe you want to abstain today because you're going to have something going on tomorrow, but that's a discussion I want to have. I hope that, you know, the suppliers, the restaurateurs, you know, the liquor stores, the grocery stores and quite frankly, the distributors don't shy away from this conversation because it is a huge opportunity for everybody.

00:09:32:16 - 00:09:51:01
Sam
And the most important thing is we're all going after one thing is that consumer, right? So how do we capture that consumer and meet their need? And what they're asking for is the discussion that I want to have about this. I know if anybody's ever received Brian Rosen's post this afternoon. Yeah. What did you think about that?

00:09:51:01 - 00:09:57:15
Jessie
He says he says he's done for the year, but I don't believe him at all. Right.

00:09:57:17 - 00:10:21:20
Sam
All right. Well, maybe we can, you know, maybe, maybe an when we get Brian Rosen to join us on one of these happy hours, I'd love to have him join because he's definitely a great answer in that category. The more the merrier to have this discussion. And Heather, to your point, and you say that it's changing constantly, like what do you what do you what's the like the biggest three things or, you know, one of the things you're seeing change really quickly.

00:10:21:22 - 00:10:52:09
Heather
So I've been tracking the swell of this for 18 months digitally. So part of what I have been tracking is the energy around the reporting on the initiative. Let's just call it at that point. It was a trend. It was a fun thing. It was not really mainstream. And so the way I've been tracking it is the only way where you really can is through what are people reporting on and what's the news cycle look like on this.

00:10:52:09 - 00:11:16:20
Heather
And a lot of this energy has been around the seasonality of a silver October or dry January. So this started two years ago. And then last year the the dry January energy did not dip and slow down as it did the fourth year previous. It continued live. We still started the conversation continued from dry January all the way through.

00:11:16:20 - 00:11:20:12
Heather
There wasn't there was a couple little dips for this year

00:11:20:12 - 00:11:47:10
Heather
from October on. It just got more and more. More. Well, I feel that, number one, this is definitely going to be the biggest dry January we've ever seen. What I don't think people realize is how many people are going to try it on this dry January and stay with it. So it wasn't popular to be a non drinker even a year ago.

00:11:47:11 - 00:12:12:22
Heather
It was not socially acceptable to be a non drinker. And you said something very important and I mentioned this when I was on Thursday, Thursday's podcast with Jesse before. What is interesting is that we need to meet the market and what their needs are, but the market has not been asking and the market has not been asking because it has been uncomfortable, comfortable for them to advocate for themselves.

00:12:13:00 - 00:12:36:21
Heather
So what's happening is like this weird kind of thing. It's been bubbling, but nobody is really until very recently, states like stood up and said, we need this, we want this. And this is changing because it was you got bullied, you had fill. It is a non drinker and that's not the case now. So it's good. So I feel like we're going to see that this dry January is going to turn into dry February.

00:12:36:21 - 00:12:58:22
Heather
Dry, March, dry April for a lot of people. GQ magazine yesterday released an article, said we all now believe that any alcohol for us 2023 is going to be the year that we all realize any amount of alcohol is bad for us. I mean, everybody is now looking at it from a health and wellness perspective. That's not where the old messaging was.

00:12:58:22 - 00:13:29:04
Heather
Where is sobriety message? That is the biggest shift we're going to see in 2024 that is going to carry us through and really continue to push this movement to the $30 billion you're talking about by 2025. So this conversation is just starting really now. So that's one thing. I know you asked for three, but I think that there's going to be a tremendous pressure by hospitality to respond to the demands that are kind of swirling now.

00:13:29:04 - 00:14:02:14
Heather
But there's going to be two things that are going to make that decision. I suspect, and I haven't done the collection yet, that hospitality venues have already seen a dip in sales based on some reports about beer sales being down in quarter four. I think that that was actually the sales dip was actually probably earlier. But if they're measuring in revenue and not units, they may not have felt because a lot of people raised prices because they met the market where the market was, they were able to get away with venues of being able to raise their prices.

00:14:02:14 - 00:14:30:11
Heather
You guys are all going out to eat. It's $50 to get a burger and a beer now. Right. So I think that sales wise, they were under the impression that liquor, beer, wine sales were fine. I think it's because they raised the prices up and they really weren't looking at unit count. So I think that then part of it is because I talked to this guy who lives next to a college and he goes this bar and he's like, none of the college kids, they come in, they have one beer and they go sit out in the front porch and they smoke their beds.

00:14:30:13 - 00:14:49:15
Heather
So that's happening for people who are taking the sobriety journey. They're just choosing weed. Weed is a big part of the stage we're on right now, guys. That is why we're here. It's not because of anything. It's because weed is now an option and people are like, Hey, let's do that. And then I still like to have a drink in my hand.

00:14:49:15 - 00:15:10:06
Heather
So let me have like a mocktail or nonalcoholic beer or whatever. So I don't know if that is. I think that the cannabis play and putting time those two things together is going to be interesting. So hospitality is going to finally respond because they've been late. The doctors. And then third, I think we're going to see all the big brands start to be like, Oops, we better get on this train.

00:15:10:08 - 00:15:28:13
Heather
And they're going to start to look at the smaller independent suppliers and start to buy them, or they're going to start doing their own formulations, like we've also said, whatever. So now I think that our traditional liquor people are seeing the writing on the wall looking at generational trends. That's my future drinker. He's not going to come and buy, you know, the alcoholic.

00:15:28:14 - 00:15:34:03
Heather
I've got to make something for him to meet him where he is, because that's Yeah.

00:15:34:05 - 00:15:52:15
Jessie
Yeah. That's not a totally different than what Brian was saying because he was saying he sees art the low and no art and wine. I think he says spirits weren't quite there yet And then you're right is that my. And then I brought in an idea in beer and then he said mergers and acquisitions, which is what you just said.

00:15:52:17 - 00:16:00:00
Jessie
And I can totally see that because there are some really good brands out there. I could totally see them getting scooped up.

00:16:00:02 - 00:16:01:02
Sam
Yeah.

00:16:01:04 - 00:16:24:07
Heather
I got there's still not enough, if you think about it, in terms that I keep going back to the craft beer movement in the nineties because that's where I came from and I watched this happen once. They were this is very much following the same sort of vibe for me. There's not, there wasn't. There's not enough spirits brands like this for the big boys to scoop in right now.

00:16:24:10 - 00:16:41:15
Heather
So they're going to have to formulate or start their own stuff. If you look at it right now, like even if you go to zero proof dot com or any place, if you can find the many in one place which you can't right now, which is a requirement is a problem. So I think for gourmands are 20, 24, 2025 major effort.

00:16:41:18 - 00:17:05:19
Heather
We've got to find ways to get people to the product and they can find it in a central place. I would say that's there's just not enough of them. There's literally maybe what, lesson 600 beer, wine, liquor, not including adaptogenic smell and other stuff. But you know, there's a lot of people making stuff in buckets in a basement right now.

00:17:05:19 - 00:17:07:13
Heather
So we'll see what happens. The first quarter.

00:17:07:17 - 00:17:09:13
Jessie
Is very, very in.

00:17:09:15 - 00:17:44:06
Sam
The perspective that I'll bring to this conversation. As is. I want to be very clear, this is not Jack Daniel's is going to exist 20 years from now. Jack Daniel's going to do very well. Woodford Reserve is going to be great. But the companies of the future, the suppliers, the distributors, you know, the retailers and tours are the ones that are going to actually grow and optimize their business is they're going to actually get on board with this this the shift in consumers because again, there's going to be a consumer.

00:17:44:06 - 00:18:00:11
Sam
To your point, Heather, that is not going to come down. So how are you going to capture them? There's also a consumer like me, like I like to drink, but there are certain occasions I don't like the drink. So how are you going to capture that mindful drinker? Because I'd probably throw myself in at the mindful drinker. Today is Thursday.

00:18:00:11 - 00:18:23:08
Sam
I got to work tomorrow on Friday. I still want to have a cocktail, but I don't want to have the hangover with that cocktail or I'm driving tonight or I'm pregnant, but I still want to be part of the party, whatever it may be, right? I'm exactly. So the point is, is I feel like some people are shying away from the conversation.

00:18:23:08 - 00:19:04:22
Sam
And I love the fact that Rosen actually in his comments, put it out there. You know, maybe I was reading between the lines and hopefully Brian will engage with us and he'll see this. But people like Brian, who is an influencer in the spirits category helping seed these companies, are the future. I hope he sees some of the Novo companies as well, because I think that's a huge opportunity for his fund to help move that forward and also hope companies like Diageo and Brown-Forman and Heaven Hill look to scoop up some of these brands to actually continue to build up the category, because this is an opportunity for us to actually capture that consumption period

00:19:05:00 - 00:19:22:04
Sam
along the way. But I don't think it's going to replace it. I hope it doesn't because I have a business, you know, and I work for businesses that are in the beverage alcohol space, and that's going to continue to be a very viable category. So I'm just to a lot of people out there.

00:19:22:06 - 00:19:48:08
Heather
Feel interesting things, though, about the channels that we are. I don't know who else is thinking about this, but if the distributors and if the big brands, liquor brands do not start playing in the sandbox, who is the most likely person to say themselves? There's a huge market share here. We should get the nolo soda. They have distribution channels.

00:19:48:08 - 00:20:14:01
Heather
They don't have to worry about liquor licenses in most states and all that stuff. So big soda is our biggest worry. If the non alcohol alcohol brands do not jump on board, because this is what's interesting about the I find the most fascinating of all about the nolo space. We're thinking that in traditional terms of liquor because it looks like liquor is a non alcohol experience and nonalcoholic brand.

00:20:14:01 - 00:20:43:19
Heather
So we think, okay, well we have to go through the channels that we would normally go through. Our distributors are Diageo is whatever, but the truth is no you don't because there's no specific licensing necessarily. Maybe some states do because there are like traces of alcohol things in certain states. But if these guys don't say, we got to buy in because we want to keep our market, it's not even about capturing markets and keeping the market because their former drinkers may go to a mindful drinking state.

00:20:43:21 - 00:20:48:01
Heather
You might lose in a big soda because what's to say they're not going to come in?

00:20:48:03 - 00:21:07:04
Sam
Here's Don. I work for the Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Company talks about occasion based marketing, and they talk about there's a consumption periods during the day. So you don't think there's someone at Coca-Cola saying, okay, here's the eight consumption periods. How do I capture them all there? There's a video called The Road to Rome, and the guy named Doug, I have this or is a see and I'm a really date myself.

00:21:07:04 - 00:21:37:01
Sam
But basically he talks about, you know, the per capita consumption in Rome, Georgia. There's the highest per capita consumption for Coca-Cola in the United States. Now, play today is okay. How do I capture that consumption period, you know, utilizing no low alcohol, soda, functional beverage, THC. I'm running a business. I want to be in every one of those categories to meet that consumer demand and need in the day.

00:21:37:01 - 00:21:58:13
Sam
And that's, I think of the supply buyers and the distributors actually, and restaurateurs that meet that need. They're going to be successful. So I hate it when I go into a restaurant and I look at the menu and I'm like, Do you have them in a beer? Yeah, they have one choice. I have Heineken's are all deals in this on the back of the menu like a Shirley Temple.

00:21:58:15 - 00:22:16:21
Sam
They need we need to rethink this. If I go into a retail establishment, where are your A stuff. Yeah. On the back shelf in the back corner there. And it's like out of stock. There's nothing there. And they're not paying attention. Those folks need to start paying attention. That's what I'm saying is not going to replace Jack Daniel's.

00:22:16:23 - 00:22:23:07
Sam
It's actually going to enhance what Jack Daniel's those consumers to come in because who plans to trip?

00:22:23:07 - 00:22:28:14
Sam
like if I'm going to go out for the evening, who if I'm driving the car.

00:22:28:16 - 00:22:31:10
Jessie
Do you think? You mean the women?

00:22:31:12 - 00:22:35:18
Sam
I think the drinking plans, the trip. Right.

00:22:35:18 - 00:22:42:10
Jessie
So because women do everything. I'm sorry. It's just get to.

00:22:42:12 - 00:23:07:15
Sam
The stop are typically I hate to say it's probably majority. I would say if you look at percentages, probably a woman is probably the shop or especially in a lot of households. But that's you know, that's just me. I don't have that to substantiate the argument. But there are some of that plans a trip and for our category of you're going out on premise in the evening I'm telling you the person that's the designated driver is going to determine where they're going to go.

00:23:07:17 - 00:23:11:07
Heather
I think is the person with the strongest personality. So, yeah.

00:23:11:09 - 00:23:15:22
Jessie
I think it's whoever the leader is, the group, the.

00:23:16:00 - 00:23:18:13
Sam
Designated driver, because they're the ones that have the courage.

00:23:18:15 - 00:23:20:13
Heather
To use. This is what I'm not.

00:23:20:13 - 00:23:21:18
Jessie
Only sober, what a.

00:23:21:18 - 00:23:22:07
Heather
Lot of really.

00:23:22:07 - 00:23:26:14
Sam
Great ones, I think insanely.

00:23:26:16 - 00:23:27:01
Jessie
What?

00:23:27:01 - 00:23:55:16
Heather
No it's I think the other thing that to your point and that's why zero go is doing what they're doing is the hospitality industry is such late adopters to this and they're not doing it any education and they're dialing it in, phoning it in if they're doing it at all. And, you know, every time I go into a place, obviously I'm asking whether they have something and they may have like an old rules or whatever, but they don't even have it on their bottle shelf.

00:23:55:16 - 00:24:24:18
Heather
They don't even have it on the menu. And that's what I'm talking about. The Advocate The market is not asking for it. If they do ask for it, chances are the bartender of the server who may have their own unhealthy relationship with alcohol or maybe they're they're not reporting it up. So it's definitely one of these things with the venues where they have to build it and then the market will come or and that's what I've been seeing with all these interviews with venues.

00:24:24:20 - 00:24:44:12
Heather
They most of them didn't start it because they were like, yeah, like, let's just try it. I'm losing money because they're going to make a lot more money. Both of them tried it because they tried it for dry January and then people were very grateful and the response was really good and they kept it going. So that's why I'm saying part of it is what's happening this.

00:24:44:14 - 00:25:06:01
Heather
So I just had somebody interview me for Restaurant Business magazine and that's exactly like what they're saying. Like, how is the question was how were venues going to take advantage of dry January not lose sales. And I'm like they got to put a program or they got to do marketing around it. They got to do marketing around it because that's what's going to happen.

00:25:06:01 - 00:25:23:03
Heather
Now, most of the people that I've talked to, my advisory council will say when I take a break from drinking because my advisory council is made up of all different kinds of segments, when I take a break from drinking, I just don't go out because there's nothing on the menu for me. And so not only are they not they're losing their drinking business.

00:25:23:08 - 00:25:27:10
Heather
They're losing. They're eating business, too. Yeah.

00:25:27:12 - 00:25:29:23
Jessie
Or it's definitely a mindset, right?

00:25:30:01 - 00:25:34:13
Heather
Or Yes, but.

00:25:34:15 - 00:26:02:23
Jessie
Yeah, I think it's there's a mindset that needs to be changed because when you think about any Bev, you know, or I probably got all those in the back, whatever. It's like you said, it's a second thought, but now with this cocktail culture that we have, it's a whole new area of space that they can make money on in there and probably make a lot more money because eventually the prices will go down if things are kind of expensive now, just because of the, you know, the low production.

00:26:02:23 - 00:26:28:17
Jessie
But I would say long term, that's a that's a a real estate menu on, you know, the real estate on a menu that's going to make them a lot more money and then at least not having it on there or having soda or having water or having sparkling water, whatever the case may be that they may be choosing versus these really cool mocktails that are part of this experience culture we went to.

00:26:28:18 - 00:26:57:23
Jessie
So the social the social social movement. Lake Mary Social, yeah. Like very subtle. And they had Christmas drinks, which was really fun. We ended up making them for our for our Christmas cocktail. And then we had that subject and the experience was so fun because they literally brought out a tray with the bathtub on it and a little rubber ducky, and then they use that salt and it was like bubbles.

00:26:58:01 - 00:27:09:07
Jessie
We laughed and cried and texted all our friends and social media the crap out of that thing. And it gave us endless, like excitement and fun. I mean, that's that's 20, 24 to me.

00:27:09:07 - 00:27:32:02
Heather
Well, to your point, variance is right. So if people want instagrammable moments, they're not going to Instagram their bottled tonic. It's like you got to put some effort into it. You've got to make it look. And what is really interesting to me is I say that the restaurant industry is much like the fashion industry. You got to stay relevant and you got to stay on top of stuff.

00:27:32:02 - 00:27:51:20
Heather
You got to stay sexy and fun. That's why people come out there. They can make their burger at home. Do you like do something to make an experience for me? And and it's so crazy to me because we talk a lot about the nolo space and we talk about alcohol and these like two kind of bodies, but we're missing all this really cool.

00:27:51:20 - 00:28:13:20
Heather
What really makes it sexy and fun is all the adaptogenic stuff that's going on out there. Because I'm having these cocktails with like ashwagandha and I have got reishi mushrooms and there's like an apothecary and vibe to it where I could be like, this is something so you could craft a cocktail that is still like a concoction with stimulants in it that just doesn't have alcohol in it.

00:28:13:22 - 00:28:36:08
Heather
And as a bartender, career bartender, my whole life I've been behind the bar. So I was 18. Like that's I'm so bored behind the bar. I love like, yeah, let's do this. Let's make something fun. But I think that the mentality of the venues right now is like, it's not going to make me money and it's boring because they don't have the education, because there's no single place to get all the movement that's happening so quickly.

00:28:36:11 - 00:28:49:16
Heather
That's why Zero for Go is doing webinars like never Over. It's fun. There's so much stuff and and I think that that's what's going to make them differentiate them from their their slow adopter.

00:28:49:18 - 00:29:15:18
Sam
Yeah it's funny, I've been doing some consulting with Finnegan's Brew Company. I think you both know that. And they have a taproom right in the taproom. They serve their beer and then they had soda, so they had Sprite, they had coke and water. So I condensed and actually put Coolmax into the venue, which is my friend Daniel Glass, which I think you both have met or will meet at some point.

00:29:15:23 - 00:29:40:17
Sam
But Daniel has this brand called Coolmax. We put Coolmax in there and we've sold out Coolmax three times in that tap room because the consumer was looking for something different than Sprite and Coke and Water. So we offered that. So now I think about that across all these venues across North America. Didn't take away from Bennigan's tap beer sells.

00:29:40:21 - 00:30:09:18
Sam
It only enhances the experience. Now, I'm going to a Vikings game this weekend. I'm going to stop over Finnegans because I can get a cool MOX, you know, And I don't have to just get a draft beer. So you're right that we have now, the next step is to go to that experience right? Like, what are we going to do to actually, if a may go to Finnegans as a as a place, what am I to do to make that not like, you know, this like empty place, you know, bar that this I can go get a beer.

00:30:09:20 - 00:30:33:03
Sam
What am I going to experience when I go there? I love the bathtub gin because that was an experience that went over our social media just so I think you're right. There's more to this equation than just selling, you know, low or low alcohol. I think it's more and more than that. But you got to make it You got to make make it to make it available and make people feel they're inclusive, you know, end of the day.

00:30:33:05 - 00:30:51:21
Jessie
Yeah, I like that idea because when when you look at our industry and you look at the craft beer industry and it had a rough year and you know, how can they how can we help them turn that around? Well, maybe that's what it is. Maybe it's experiences like like for me, I'll tell you, one of my craft beer stories.

00:30:51:23 - 00:31:10:22
Jessie
I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a couple of weeks last fall. Well, they had a gluten free brewery, but they also had a whole gluten free kitchen. And I can't tell you when the last time I had a fried pickle. Do you know how elated I was? And I got to have a fried pickle.

00:31:11:00 - 00:31:13:22
Sam
I picked up Charlie's. I'm Pryor, by the way.

00:31:14:03 - 00:31:15:08
Heather
Yeah, that's.

00:31:15:10 - 00:31:34:19
Jessie
Nice. Even for me, too. You know, things like that. You know, they're looking at moving in to Dallas, which just makes me so happy because now I have a place to go where everybody can go, whether you're gluten free or not. And the beers are awesome, the food is good, and it's inclusive, right? So I get I finally get to have my fried pickles in Windsor.

00:31:34:19 - 00:31:53:03
Jessie
I want to you know, maybe it's something similar to that where, you know, they can figure out what experience that is or what that looks like. Maybe it'll help them bring in more people. But I think to your point, too, they do have to have more than just beer. So a lot of people just don't drink beer, whether it's alcohol or not.

00:31:53:03 - 00:32:22:09
Jessie
So have alternatives. I know one of the an interview with the Athletic Brewing team and one of their strategies is was to commit to or to get into these breweries because of the process they have to go to to get certified and do non ALC and all this kind of stuff. They're like, Hey, just use ours, You know, we've got two kegs we can ship and you know, if you want, if somebody wants a non alcoholic choice and then it's easy breezy, right.

00:32:22:09 - 00:32:24:16
Jessie
Yeah. And I think that's really smart too.

00:32:24:18 - 00:32:25:05
Sam
Yeah.

00:32:25:05 - 00:32:47:20
Heather
So I was in Puerto Rico five weeks ago and I did an interview with a woman down there who used to work for a distributor. She said, Americans, you know, stateside, born, and she bought a craft beer bar down in Puerto Rico, and she actually drinks nonalcoholic beers all the time. Like when I first reached out to her and she got she's still she's mindful drinker.

00:32:47:22 - 00:33:10:03
Heather
She was like picking up her kid in line at school and she's like she she took a picture of her where she was. Regan Athletic. I like with it like I love it. I love I feel like I'm doing something naughty, like I'm drinking, but I'm not. I'm just drinking. So but from her perspective, because she's a beer and she wanted to work distributor distributor, like I said.

00:33:10:03 - 00:33:32:12
Heather
And then she has a craft beer bar in Puerto Rico. She's like, But when I go stateside and I go to a store now and I'm looking at the beer section, I get overwhelmed. It's so oversaturated. There's like, it's not fun like it was in the beginning and the fun was great. Like back in the day when craft beer came out, if you remember, if you're old enough.

00:33:32:17 - 00:33:56:16
Heather
Sadly, I am, because I was making beer for one of the earlier earliest ones. Like every time a new flavor came out or a new brand, we all ran to the store to get it because we want to talk about it and share with our friends. And we were all using MySpace back then, but like it was like a big deal when a brewery opened and now they're closing down sadly, all over the place because everybody can make beer now.

00:33:56:16 - 00:34:23:02
Heather
Like it seems like everybody's making beer. We have that hazy kind of move where it's like, but now it's like they ran out of fun stuff to do. And so I feel like it's and it's a shame because to your point, like, how are they going to get the NRA certification and pivot like that? They have a better you know, if I was consulting breweries, which I have done often in my life, I would say I would like to start throwing Adaptogens in there.

00:34:23:02 - 00:34:46:22
Heather
Yeah, why are you putting reishi into your fridge? Why the lion's mane in your beer? Well, there's plenty of them. It's in my coffee. You got to stay relevant too. But also differentiate yourself because So her point was that when she goes and sees all those refrigerators, you know, she does she seeks out the nonalcoholic beverages section because she knows that's growing and that's exciting now.

00:34:46:22 - 00:34:53:01
Heather
Now it's like this is like that energy back then, you know, like, what is let's let's try it, you know.

00:34:53:03 - 00:35:15:01
Jessie
What's it I'll say is a non smoker. I was just going to say to comment on that Heather as a basically a non beer drinker because I haven't really been able to drink it a lot. No, I am because athletic and and some other options that I'm pretty excited about. So I'm really pumped about kind of digging in and trying different types of beers.

00:35:15:01 - 00:35:43:10
Jessie
But for me as a outside consumer, you know, buying beer for my wife, it was so saturated on IPA. I feel like there's IPAs, like 90% of it. So how is that differentiating from someone else? East Coast, West coast, orange, persimmon, whatever flavors. But for me it just didn't seem like there was a lot of variety. Maybe, maybe because, you know, I love cold beer.

00:35:43:11 - 00:36:07:01
Jessie
I can't find cold beer anywhere, maybe at ABC, you know, and or there's like some other brands that I've seen floating from, you know, like Iceland and whatever that are different and a little bit lighter in style or maybe Amber which which she likes. And so for me, you know, not being an IPA drinker and she doesn't like IPA either, your choices are a little bit more limited.

00:36:07:01 - 00:36:21:03
Jessie
So maybe there is some some golden nuggets out there that or, you know, different styles of beers that they could bring to the table to differentiate themselves along with the adaptogenic and whatnot.

00:36:21:03 - 00:36:38:18
Heather
The alcohol content. Right? So and make beer for a living you can control that y you know just to be a little bit more in the space, maybe you're not a low or no, we're musing here. AUDIENCE We don't know. We're making suggestions because this is our space. We're just trying to say, like, if you guys haven't started thinking about it, here are some creative ways to think about it.

00:36:38:18 - 00:36:39:19
Heather
Yeah, maybe.

00:36:39:21 - 00:36:42:12
Sam
I am in, I am in the space. So.

00:36:42:14 - 00:37:04:21
Heather
Right. Well, yeah. Brian talked about the audience, right? Like they like why not? If you. Because my worry for my people right now, my hospitality professionals and for my existing liquor brands, you know, I have a lot of friends still in the beer business after all these years is don't ignore it. Just don't ignore it. So I'm worried that they're ignoring it and they've got to pivot.

00:37:05:00 - 00:37:20:17
Heather
They got to do something to respond. They have to react, and they can't just hide from it. They have to do something. And if it's if it's something as simple as just making a lower version alcohol and branding it that way, make it simple or throwing the adaptogens in there because that's.

00:37:20:17 - 00:37:39:17
Sam
Like, yeah, for craft beer for in order for them to survive. There's basically three things happening in the category. One is they're looking at and a is there are certain people have made a statement that they're putting their entire future on in a category two is starting to pack those that have capacity are actually co packing and guess what?

00:37:39:17 - 00:38:05:18
Sam
They're not necessarily co packing in a beer, they're co packing THC products because they're coming fast and furious asset Minnesota as you both now and that law changed and there's probably over 200 products that are THC. So these craft breweries now are actually contract brewing and making THC and products that bring them to market fast and fiercely. So that's you know, and then they're co packing.

00:38:05:18 - 00:38:30:18
Sam
So that's how they're surviving because they're taprooms and their distribution business for their craft beer isn't making it because guess what it's a battleground at retail. That space. Where do you think the retailers going to get space for all the RTDs there in the market? All the functional beverages come in and the THC products, they're going right after craft beer right after that space.

00:38:30:20 - 00:38:38:09
Jessie
Because we need five Coca-Colas in of each type and it's cooler. No offense, Coca Cola, but.

00:38:38:09 - 00:38:58:11
Sam
Just go contract. That's all. That's all a dirty little word because KMA is cooperative marketing agreements. They buy that space so they hands on by their code equipment, their ads, their space is bar. And I'm sure I'll probably get a reaction from that. But that shelf is for sale and they can buy it.

00:38:58:13 - 00:39:02:09
Heather
Well, I owned a liquor store, so. Yeah. Yeah.

00:39:02:11 - 00:39:03:03
Sam
Right.

00:39:03:05 - 00:39:21:13
Heather
So yeah, it's interesting because I just sold my bar and liquor store after having for 20 years. And so I'm not going to be able to experience it from that side of it. Like it would be really, really fun. I wish I had still had it just to kind of play dumb, but that is a really, really interesting thought.

00:39:21:13 - 00:39:32:13
Heather
Like, you're right, these new brands, they got to find people are going to knock down walls and expand their buildings to accommodate the product. Something has to go buy buys and it's probably going to be craft beer. Very, very good point.

00:39:32:13 - 00:39:54:01
Sam
Yeah. I think Ken said I'm Brian go back to Brian's call out today. I think he's right on it. It'd be interesting to go a little bit deeper in terms of really what's happened. I can just tell you from my next words of talking to several craft breweries over the last few weeks as I'm helping, you know, a company I'm doing some consulting for explore their opportunities as well.

00:39:54:01 - 00:40:13:14
Sam
So that seems to be kind of the underlying tone for opportunity is crap. You're going to go away. And now, Heather, you obviously experienced the microbrew revolution, then it went away for a while and then also the craft beer revolution came in, right? And I was talking to a craft brewery today. I'm not going to name them, but they're like, Look, it's cyclical, right?

00:40:13:14 - 00:40:41:20
Sam
It's going to come and go, but how are you going to manage through that downturn? Because there absolutely is a downturn. And what I'm saying is adopt the no flows, get involved in it, because it's only going to enhance the brands that you make as you go forward, give, you know, give an offering, Hey, here's my alcohol product, here's my nonalcoholic product, here's my low to no alcohol product, here's my THC product.

00:40:41:22 - 00:40:52:18
Sam
Give make a selection as a supplier, as a retailer, as a distributor. Right. Then that I.

00:40:52:20 - 00:41:02:02
Jessie
Was going to take a little bit of a hit, too, though. I mean, do you really need 80 caps and, you know, 40 shards? I don't know.

00:41:02:04 - 00:41:24:06
Sam
Why. You know, I always argue and some of the wineries is there has to be a hook, right? Why do I want to buy your wine like I get the opportunity to work with a company called Rescue Dog Wines. What's their hook? They're rescuing dogs 50% that every wine that they sell goes to help dogs. And they make good wine.

00:41:24:08 - 00:41:47:11
Sam
99 scorers. But I'm buying rescue dog wine because it's they're doing social good. So that's the reason. And that very crowded category to your point, it's like, okay, what's Cabramatta choose today? Well, I'm going to choose this cab. Either there's something in sustainability, it's low alcohol. You know, another thing, this personally, my mom is Heather. You know this, but my mom was a big drinker and she has dementia.

00:41:47:13 - 00:42:08:00
Sam
You know, what we did is we actually switched out her alcohol. Wine to no alcohol wine. Excellent. That's why I do it now. I don't know what choices my sisters made, but again, we there's an opportunity. I have my mom. She can't drink. It affects her memory. So we're doing that to give us another reason to buy it.

00:42:08:00 - 00:42:15:13
Sam
But yeah, I think wine, wines and it is a tough year for wine in general. I mean, there's nothing good for one.

00:42:15:13 - 00:42:36:03
Heather
And I'm thinking about because I really feel like in some ways, like you're saying, Jack Daniel's in beer out. I feel like wine is always going to be around and I don't think it's going to go anywhere. But I think that the segment that you're referring to is that the the everyday drink wine, right? Like the Bordeaux, all that good fancy stuff is to still be around because that's actually investments.

00:42:36:03 - 00:42:53:22
Heather
I remember during there was a stock exchange where talk about the recession. This guy came in with my hair dresser and he's like, when he's a millionaire is like when the stock market acts up like this, I go and buy gold and wine because, like, wine is like you can buy in futures and wine futures or. You can buy a future vintages.

00:42:53:22 - 00:43:18:07
Heather
And they just put it into that. And I'm like, That's really fascinating to me. But the interesting thing about the one segment is that the majority of people who are going through this recovery kind of journey right now are 65% are middle aged women. The wine mommy culture, that's what's actually we're seeing a lot of and that's why it's so loud right now, because all those wine mommies don't have one.

00:43:18:08 - 00:43:32:17
Heather
And they're now all like coaching and they're all like coming on their journey. But so that's taking a hit, I think, from that segment a lot. But it's going to be that low end. They're funny, you know, that kind of stuff, I think. I don't know. I'm just using.

00:43:32:17 - 00:43:58:03
Sam
Honor as not a total wine picking up Coolmax And I ran into this woman at the shelf and on the Chauvet Coolmax II level and then Downy had all this wine and this woman, I was asking her questions. I'm like, Well, what wine should I buy? And she seemed very knowledgeable about any wines. And there were some, you know, I can't name them at the top of the head now, but there were really some really, really cool looking bottles of this wine.

00:43:58:03 - 00:44:20:08
Sam
Now, full transparency. I'm not tried in any wine. I've tried any beers, but I'm not trading any wine. So I'm wondering I'm sure there's some really good wines out there. And the category for any that would only enhance the experience for the, you know, the alcohol based wine because this these strict where sometimes I do want to bottles I want to take some you know really good Bordeaux.

00:44:20:10 - 00:44:32:05
Sam
You know, out on you know been at a cafe and have a nice some nice pasta and and and enjoy a little bit of the day you know and obviously moderation.

00:44:32:07 - 00:44:56:20
Heather
Bad news There's no really good way of making a replica red wine right now they're working on the science of that. But there's the tannins that make the red wine, things like red wine. Otherwise it tastes like grape juice or so it's it's a little bit of a rough down there doing all the the you know, whites and roses and stuff and sparkling is okay.

00:44:56:22 - 00:45:12:22
Heather
But if you're looking for something with your steak, you're it's it's still rough out there And that's the one thing I miss the most. I'll tell you. Like I was a big beer drinker, I drank a ton of beer, but I'm when I have to stick, I want glass of red wine so badly with that. Like, it's not about the buzz.

00:45:12:22 - 00:45:25:11
Heather
It's just like, I love those two combos. If they make a good red wine, no alcohol, red wine, I will be the first to report it and tell you what they're trying.

00:45:25:14 - 00:45:30:18
Jessie
Yeah, I can't wait for that to happen. I'm looking forward to discovering that in 20.

00:45:30:18 - 00:45:46:01
Sam
14 when I'm looking to get together of the two of you in 2024 to break bread. I know Justin, I talked about that yesterday, but I'll tell you what, I'll put a piece of chocolate cake in front of you and a good glass of red wine, and you'll be like, yeah, Nothing better than the chocolate cake, wine, steak.

00:45:46:01 - 00:46:09:21
Sam
You're like, What a combination. But I'm telling you, it's you can't go wrong for sure. And hence my comp in the conversation is, look, the nolo is not going to replace all these great wines, beers and spirits at the end of the day. And as soon as the retail operators, the distributors and the suppliers understand that, then then this thing is going to move forward.

00:46:09:21 - 00:46:25:00
Sam
And as you the point is the sea change is going to happen with or without them. So the people that actually get on board are going to actually fill the I guess, the the fruits of their decision, you know, come forward.

00:46:25:03 - 00:46:49:19
Jessie
You know, to kind of circle back. I'll tell you, I'm thinking about my for my full year at Thirsty Thursday, my interview with Claire Warner, she surprised me with a lot of her thoughts. She's gone in depth there, talked she thought in depth, but we talked a little bit about what is that experience going to look like for the generations to come that don't want to drink.

00:46:50:00 - 00:47:09:15
Jessie
And they're on their phones and they've got their pens and their, you know, what does that look like? You know, what's that experience look like? Because, you know, you know, like you said, Heather, I throw a party when you come into my place, I'm throwing a party for you. You know, I think that's so cool. And what does that look like for these this next generation?

00:47:09:17 - 00:47:32:10
Jessie
Who's going to come in? Are they going to be on their phones? The whole time? Because it's about talking and having conversation and enjoying the evening with your food and your drink? You know, I think that's that's like something that kind of threw me back a bit because she she kind of put it on the responsibility of the other restaurateurs to adapt to what they were.

00:47:32:12 - 00:47:53:06
Jessie
And I think that's really a big thought because as I've never seen or I've never seen it or heard about it in that way, you know, yes, customers come in and we ask for certain things or we don't go because that's not cool anymore, whatever the case may be. But that is a whole new way of thinking to me.

00:47:53:08 - 00:48:12:01
Heather
So that's why Zero first goes in. What they're doing right is because we're trying to educate the hospitality people that you got to do this because you're going to miss out on the segment. And part of my hospitality consulting side, I've been telling people when they come to their business plans, have an open restaurant, and I'm like, okay, where's the experience?

00:48:12:02 - 00:48:38:16
Heather
Like, you just can't open up a restaurant because you've got good food and good service anymore and nobody has good service anymore right now. But you can't just do there's got to be something. There's got to be a hub. There's got to be something for me to Instagram about. Right? So part of the zero go thing, you're you know that we're not anti alcohol and we're not sobriety focused because this is a primer for when THC is legalized federally.

00:48:38:18 - 00:49:04:06
Heather
So I have a local barbershop that I go to and that's a zero proof bottle shop, and she makes me a THC cocktail. It's gorgeous. So the way woman I love it and she's able to at it. This is another thing that these restaurants are not thinking about. They're not even just competing against themselves anymore. They're competing with these dry bars that can sell weed or with weed in their cocktails.

00:49:04:07 - 00:49:21:17
Heather
And so this is another blind side for them. They're like, and they can't do it because they look at licenses or they may not be in states that are friendly to that. When the government decides to legalize it federally, if you already have a nolo program, guess what you could do. Now I am going to charge a tincture here.

00:49:21:17 - 00:49:35:20
Heather
Here's $5 more and I'm going to throw some girl igloo in your what was a mocktail. So that's what I'm thinking, what I'm thinking of. And to your point, Sam, about THC beers, I bought Tilray stock. You guys know about Tilray?

00:49:35:22 - 00:49:38:23
Sam
yeah. I'm a stockholder.

00:49:39:01 - 00:50:06:12
Heather
Right. And Tilray bought. I mean, educate me Tilray, and that's helping their goal. But, you know, they've really been eating up all these little cannabis companies, too. And they're smart because I believe what they're do is posturing for Big pharma. So my other ransom, I'm just my lens. I really believe that all these little cannabis companies are popping up states, the states, as soon as the feds legalize it, they're going to regulate it so much and tax so much.

00:50:06:12 - 00:50:20:09
Heather
The only people that are going to be able to deploy are pharma. And so farmers just wait. They're just waiting for the feds to legalize it, and then they're going to buy up all these oil companies. So I'm like, Tilray is not going to be Tilray someday. But Tilray was smart enough.

00:50:20:10 - 00:50:24:07
Jessie
That said, No, that's so sad.

00:50:24:09 - 00:50:28:11
Heather
Tilray Well, then, but don't worry about psilocybin still on the table, right?

00:50:28:16 - 00:50:37:07
Jessie
It's Microdosing Tilray by Sweetwater.

00:50:37:09 - 00:50:56:08
Heather
Sweetwater has a beer called for 20, so they're already starting it from the cannabis side. The cannabis guys are getting into the cocktail business too. This is the thing that the liquor guys have to look all around. They need a 302 because people are coming at them for every direction. And I don't think that they're really thinking about, you know, Yeah.

00:50:56:10 - 00:51:23:02
Sam
Well, I'll send this to my friend Tara Gilmore, a Gilmore, the president of Tilray Beer. Maybe we can get them on your podcast just because he's a friend? Yes, for sure. So. And they definitely have bought up a lot of to your point, Heather, a lot of craft breweries because and some of this cannabis is at the point is waiting for it to go federally legalize or put themselves in a really good position for the future.

00:51:23:02 - 00:51:36:04
Sam
I wish I would have sold my Tilray stock when I was at 300, by the way, but I'm just fine. What's next as far as events? Yeah. Yeah. So a great, great call.

00:51:36:06 - 00:51:57:08
Heather
I'm on the Tilray train. I am l.D. Don't worry about me, Mr. President. I'm here for it because I see what they say. This is a very long way. I also do the same thing with my my electric vehicle stock. I bet on all that stuff too, because that's all that had come to fruition at some point. It's painful to watch every day.

00:51:57:10 - 00:52:12:07
Sam
It's it. I hope so. I'm an owner of several cannabis stocks that that I'm still hitting my hats. I have several million shares of cannabis stock. So I hope that it does go because something's going to hit.

00:52:12:09 - 00:52:17:19
Heather
We got to buy some novo stuff. That's our next thing. Let's all keep an eye out and see. Yeah, out there and.

00:52:17:21 - 00:52:44:06
Sam
Why I love this conversation. I know we're getting close to the hour and I hope, you know, obviously I invited some other friends. You know, the either touch the space like Chrissy. I didn't invite her. Jesse Heather Rams excuse me, Meghan Anderson out of Michigan as well as some brand owner. So of you know, of some friends that like to join us at the plan is to do this every third Thursday.

00:52:44:06 - 00:53:03:02
Sam
And then Justin are going to manage either I'll do that one Thursday kind of every other month in terms of as we go forward. I mean, we just want to have a discussion, you know, and it could be around nolo, it can be about anything. But I just really wanted to thank the two of you for coming, my friend, to connect me with this year.

00:53:03:04 - 00:53:24:09
Sam
You've made an incredible impact on me personally and very much do appreciate that. And I do want to absolutely break bread with both of you and the New Year. I know that you worked with part of the drinks agency as well in terms of providing your service, and it's all about the network. And then the day is connecting with folks to opportunities.

00:53:24:15 - 00:53:47:22
Sam
And if I can connect the two of you to opportunities, then then I've done my job. And I do think this opportunity around know how to get people to be more aware of what the opportunity is that's in front of us and to have the discussion. We can get the brand Rosen's of the World or whomever, just you've had every president, every company on your your podcast.

00:53:47:22 - 00:54:14:19
Sam
Let's get them let's get to have a discussion about this. And Heather, you know, I love what you're doing with your proof. Go I, I think it's the Zagat of of no low right. Like if I could put a zero proof go sticker on my door that I'm zero proof go certified and those zero proof go go getters will come into my place to be part of my offering that, hey, that's a win for me as a restaurant to have as a distributor in my portfolio.

00:54:14:19 - 00:54:19:18
Sam
So you're doing great work. So very much appreciate that. You guys have any final thoughts?

00:54:20:14 - 00:54:39:13
Jessie
No. I do know Sam and Heather. It's been awesome meeting you. Sam and I talk every week. It's been awesome. We've kind of wish, you know, we've recorded a few of the sessions just because a lot of you know, I ask sometimes the entrepreneurs that Come on. Has anybody told you to record your sessions or write it down or talk about your journey?

00:54:39:13 - 00:55:03:13
Jessie
And almost everybody says yes, you know, because I think it's important. Part of the the growth of a human yourselves. And then like you said, your network, Sam, because I've learned so much from you in these last few months just talking to you about what you're working on with Canada and beyond. I mean, it's really been it's it's been a game changer for me.

00:55:03:15 - 00:55:26:16
Jessie
And I think that and one of the reasons this happened is because my my marketing mentor, Sara, she's been my mentor for about a year. We meet once a month and he said, I'm not getting enough feedback. I don't I need more feedback. And he said, Well, I have a group of like five or six people and we connect together and that's what we do.

00:55:26:16 - 00:55:36:03
Jessie
We help we help each other out. And I think that was such a smart idea. So that's when I said to Sam, Hey, we should be talking. And it was immediate. It was like within a week of knowing your a few days.

00:55:36:03 - 00:55:37:05
Heather
I'm like, Yeah, we should give.

00:55:37:05 - 00:56:00:04
Jessie
You a week. And it's been fruitful. And, you know, because we're excited about being a startup, was excited about, you know, new ventures and you know, what that energy is like and how to support each other. So that's been then key. And Heather, you've been amazing and teaching me so much about what you're doing and and I think you're spot on with your thoughts.

00:56:00:06 - 00:56:16:04
Jessie
And thank you for, for sharing that knowledge with us. So I'm excited to help you any way I can with this movement through whatever platform I have And, you know, let me know whatever I can do to help you.

00:56:16:04 - 00:56:39:12
Heather
I mean, right now the ask is share of the news of happy hour. Happy for all what's happening on January 11th. I don't know when this is going to be aired, but probably after that. But that's a big important thing to for people because it's really driving awareness to this no matter. What so that would be helpful if you could share anything about the call.

00:56:39:12 - 00:57:18:04
Heather
I have a couple articles coming out about it too, which is great, but I think the other thing that is important as startups, like you were saying, just seeing us all kind of being in this strange new land, navigating it is it can be very isolating, right? Like your family and friends don't want to talk about, you know, your job every day and not only is it nice to be able to connect over a topic that we all share and passionate about, but also connect about the personal journey we're going through as individuals, as we're struggling, bootstrapping these things together.

00:57:18:06 - 00:57:39:12
Heather
And that community is really important to our mental health. And I think there's a real, you know, but every day I have the same thought, like my body and soul tells me, just keep moving and keep going and it's all going to work out. And to not focus on the outcomes, just to focus on the work, because the work is the important part.

00:57:39:14 - 00:58:01:05
Heather
And even if, like I say, even if like zero go doesn't go anywhere, I have learned so much and I have made these great friends with you that I will really appreciate. And so I appreciate your companions ship on this journey and that we're all making each other better and also less lonely.

00:58:01:07 - 00:58:23:08
Sam
Yeah, well, thank you both that it's been a tremendous conversation. I'm looking forward to future discussions and just I think we record our calls every week when we have a discussion. And I meet with Heather too, so and we have some great conversations. So if anything, we document it and we share that back out with different folks because both of you have a lot to offer.

00:58:23:10 - 00:58:37:18
Sam
And again, I very much appreciate the friendship and I want don't talk to you before the New year. I'm wishing both of you happy 2024. And thanks for joining me on this happy hour today.

00:58:37:20 - 00:58:40:12
Jessie
Yeah, thanks for the invite. This one, everybody.

00:58:40:14 - 00:58:42:05
Sam
All right. Well.

00:58:42:07 - 00:58:43:16
Jessie
Yeah. Happy New Year. Thanks, Sam.

00:58:43:17 - 00:58:45:03
Sam
I just. Yeah.

00:58:45:05 - 00:58:46:19
Jessie
My.

00:58:47:00 - 00:58:49:00
Speaker 1
Cheers and comply.

00:58:49:11 - 00:58:53:11
Jessie
Produced by Fedora J Productions.