Navigating the Premium Wine Industry | Next Up

So you're entrepreneurs, which means that you identified a problem and you came up with a solution. Sarah, talk to us about the problem that you identified and how you chose to solve that. Definitely, we felt like the traditional wine world wasn't speaking to us as consumers and we really wanted to make wine more approachable and accessible and really highlight the stars of wine, independent winemakers. I'd also had a background in craft beer and cans really take off in that industry and thought someone should apply this to fine wine and really use that canvas of the can to tell the story of the winemaker. But there's a stigma against things that are in cans. You know, premium wine and can don't necessarily go together. Kendra, talk a little bit about how you overcame that. Absolutely. Consumer education, both around the can being a format that can support premium wine and also the quality of the wine that we put into cans, has been a big part of our journey and story over building this company. We actually source wines from independent winemakers, as Sarah mentioned, and we're proud to have the highest rated canned wine on the market. We've entered our wines into best in class wine competitions, New York International Wine Competition, SF Chronicle Wine Enthusiast, and we have more than 15 wines with 90 plus point scores and more than 40 wines with gold medals. So how do you do it? How do you beat out the competition? Because yes, it's novel, but people are there, right? There are many companies that have wines in a can, Amatica, Graham and Fiske, and so many more. And I'm sure you have a strategy to beat every single one of them. What's the difference? How do you differentiate yourselves? Absolutely. I think firstly is quality. The juice speaks for itself and Sommelier's judges are there to back it up. And then secondly is the story. We really put the heart and soul of wine and why people fall in love with the wineries and the wines in the first place. So every can has the name and signature of the producer who made it and a QR code on the back that pushes to more information about their story. How did you decide what price point you were targeting? We really wanted to be in the premium end of the market because we're highlighting award-winning winemakers that are making minimal intervention, organic, sustainably farmed wines. And when we ask our customers, we have a really large online audience. We ask our customers what they're looking for. They're really looking for that premium wine, that story and wine that's the right way. And when it comes to the size too, this is something that's very well thought out as well because each can is one third of a bottle. So it's kind of like a single serving without having to buy a bottle of wine and realizing that that's your single serving. I'm giving away a little too much. I'm not saying that that's too little or too much. I'm just, you know, clarifying. Yeah. But can you talk a little bit about that? Because that requires a lot of consumer research and thinking through the, you know, the small stuff. Absolutely. And everyone's had that experience where you open a bottle of wine and you have one glass and end up throwing the rest away. And so we really see that our customers love the single serving nature of canned wine. And that's been a big piece of why we've been successful. So I have a child who just turned 21 years old and he and his friends don't particularly like drinking. They don't necessarily like drinking wine, certainly. And that's, I think, something that a lot of Gen Z, you know, kind of gravitates away from. They're more into cannabis. They have their other vices, so to speak. How much of this is a play for this demographic? So we really did start the company for a consumer much like ourselves, millennial women, but we definitely see that the product speaks to Gen Z. And I think what we see is that consumers are drinking differently and looking for different things out of their product experiences. So with Maker, we lead with transparency around where the wine came from, who made it, and certainly the ingredient list. All of our wines are fermented to dry, less than one gram per liter of sugar. And then secondly, you know, the quality of the wine. We see a consumer demographic really coming into purchasing power that cares a lot about quality and is much more health conscious than their predecessors. That being said, canned wine does resonate with all ages and demographics. So it's certainly not a wine for young people only. You, according to the latest figures that I've seen, have raised 2.3 million from 30 investors. It may have changed by now, but how do you operate such a massive operation and scale with that kind of money? Or how are you getting your hands on more operating cash? Absolutely. So we've been fortunate to be backed by some of the best in the business from venture capitalists like Pair VC and Marcy Venture Partners down to celebrities and athletes. And candidly, these are people who are attracted to both our unique business model of highlighting independent winemakers and also our, you know, quality and the product where it lives and breathes. So one of the things that kind of makes Maker stand out is we sell into many arenas and venues across the West Coast. We're at numerous NBA arenas, the homes of the Warriors, the Clippers, the Kings, in addition to high-end hotels and resorts. And so we're really growing the pie and expanding the use cases where canned wine can be enjoyed. And I think investors have seen that. Give us the secret sauce. How did you do that? Because come on, we know everybody has a story, right? And everybody has their niche and the way they're marketing and they all want the premium price point and so on. That could be said about a lot of brands. How did you get into those arenas and into United? I think our secret sauce was we actually launched the company during COVID, during the pandemic. And so we had to lead first with direct to consumer e-commerce. And even today, we sell more canned wine online than anyone else in our category. So we have this very direct relationship with our customer. We have thousands of members in our can club online, and this has allowed us to back into and really push into wholesale with a focus on more premium, more strategic placements and partnerships. I think that's the secret sauce. Sarah Hoffman and Kendra Koala, thank you so much. Co-founders of Maker Wine. You can find it on a United Airlines flight near you. Oh, there you go, Sarah. Or you could join the club, right? Still ahead. 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