Episode #16 Kristen Bieler, SevenFifty Daily, Beverage Media

Hanna (01:16) Hi, Kristen. Welcome to the show. 

Michael (01:18) Great to see you. 

Kristen (01:19) Hi, Hanna. Hi, Michael. Thanks for having me. 

Hanna (01:21) So Kristin, you are the Editor in Chief of SevenFifty Daily and Beverage Media. Tell us about these important trade publications. 

Kristen (01:31) Right. So SevenFifty Daily is our online publication for the beverage alcohol industry community. Um, and we founded that about three years ago and then Beverage Media is a monthly print publication, which was founded over 80 years ago believe it or not, the year after prohibition ended in our country and the publications merged about a year ago. 

They operate as sister publications so they each have their own distinct brand identity, but we do crop cross publish some of our content. And what's exciting is that by bringing them together, we've created an audience of 140,000 trade readers, which is really an unparalleled concentration of top industry professionals across all three tiers in the industry. 

Hanna (02:12) I've been reading Beverage Media since I started in this business and it's such an incredible industry Bible. For our listeners, can you describe your audience for both Beverage Media as well as SevenFifty Daily? 

Kristen (02:25) So our readers, most of our readers are buyers. Um, you know, top restaurants and retail accounts across the country. And then the rest of our readership is importers, distributors, suppliers, wineries, media. We have a really engaged audience so we hear from our readers a lot.

Hanna (02:40) Based on your large trade audience, what types of topics do you cover? 

Kristen (02:46) A lot of other drinks publications have more of a consumer focus. And we build our editorial platform entirely around our community of professionals. So we're reporting on the business and the culture of all three tiers, um, everything from news, trends, operational tips, best practices, personal essays. 

Um, I like to think a great SevenFifty story is one that adds something fresh to the conversation, sheds new light and perspective to an issue or a trend. You know, we do cover breaking news and we've done a lot of that this year. Um, and we try to be timely as we can, but there's other publications that are going to do that better than us and faster than us. So what we really offer is timely coverage that offers new perspective. 

Michael (03:29) I think that timely subjects with fresh perspectives are precisely what our industry needs right now. 

Kristen (03:34) Thank you. Yeah. It's been a really exciting adventure this last year. 

Michael (03:38) So maybe you could explain what the parent company SevenFifty does.

Kristen (03:41) Sure. So I should start by saying that some daily operates as an independent entity, meaning our parent company, it's SevenFifty, doesn't interfere with our editorial integrity. Um, but that said, we absolutely benefit from being connected to this 300,000 person network of industry professionals, which is in the SevenFifty universe. So SevenFifty Daily and Beverage Media are the media company.

And then our parent company was founded by our co-founders Aaron Sherman and Gianfranco Verga 10 years ago. And that's our data and technology company, people in the industry really know SevenFifty as an online marketplace for buyers and distributors to connect. 

And that is our core business. We're the largest wholesale marketplace for beverage alcohol, which has a real scale now. This year, we're going to transact over a billion dollars in sales volume for our distributor partners. But the company is really becoming more of a technology and data company for all three tiers of the industry. Um, over the last decade we've been building this massive database which today is the leading database of beverage alcohol products in the entire US. 

And what that's allowed us to do is build out tools for producers, importers, distributor reps, and retailers. So we're, we're really servicing the entire supply chain and connecting all three tiers. So what we've really established ourselves as, uh, particularly with the coming together of SevenFifty and Beverage Media, the platforms and the publications is the central platform and technology partner for the entire beverage alcohol space. And it's growing, which is exciting. 

Hanna (05:11) Yeah. I mean the role of technology in our industry is tremendous.

Kristen (05:15) More important than ever. Right. 

Michael (05:16) Yeah it's a great foundation to be built upon. 

Hanna (05:18) Exactly. So since the pandemic started, how has your coverage of the drinks and hospitality industry overall changed? 

Kristen (05:25) Well, well, um, back in March, I basically tore up our editorial calendar and shifted our coverage entirely to the pandemic, which we've been approaching from every angle. Um, you know, everything from the fight that, you know, Bobby Stuckey and the Independent Restaurant Coalition has been leading in Congress to get relief that we're still waiting for a Senate to pass this $120 million relief bill for restaurants. 

Michael (05:47) Can’t come too soon. 

Kristen (05:49) Um, to a lot of the, you know, the inspirational stories of people and businesses, finding success with all of these unbelievably creative, new operating models. You know, taking advantage of change laws in many states to allow to sell alcohol and cocktails to go, the outdoor consumption laws.

Um, we focused a lot of our coverage on operations so getting insights from experienced operators to provide real actionable takeaway for our reader.  

And these are the sorts of pieces that we do really well I think. We put together a back to work guide with articles and tools to help people across all three tiers this summer, when we started seeing some reopening happening, you know, the science of hiring the future of trade tastings. How to sell your wine cellar off to make money and how to restock your wine seller when you reopen.

How to land a job as a wine consultant. What happens when it suddenly loses their sense of smell to COVID? Um, these are the range of articles we've been, we've been producing. And then we also launched the SevenFifty Job Board in July, which is an employment resource hub for the whole drinks industry. And it's free for job seekers and job posters. 

Um, it gives them access to our network of trained professionals. So we're, we're watching, we're also covering, you know, all these new job creation opportunities and there's more than you might think. Um, we're working with Leah Jones and Filana Bloviate with their Be the Change Diversity Job Fair, um, for the drinks industry in early December. So, you know, we're, we're going to continue covering the negative and focusing on the positive and solutions for the industry. 

Hanna (07:17) You guys are doing a lot of great stuff. So thank you for that. 

Kristen (07:19) Thank you for reading. 

Michael (07:21) How, how are readers responding? You know, what, what are the kinds of articles that, uh, you're really seeing traction with since the pandemic started?

Kristen (07:27) Yeah, so we, well, I'd say in any circumstance, normal or pandemic affected the pieces that do really well for us are grounded in people. For example, one of our best performing articles this year in June, I worked with, um, Dorothy Gaiter. She's the long term, longtime wine journalist and Wall Street Journal columnist. And she wrote a very, very personal essay for us on her experience, being black in the very white wine industry for all these decades. And that piece got a lot of attention and actually the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle , even credited SevenFifty Daily for breaking the story of racism in the wine industry with that piece. Um, Shakira Jones did a piece on what real allyship looks like.

So these are the kinds of stories that our readers tend to really respond to. Um, one of our best performing pieces this year was written before the pandemic, a lifetime ago. Uh, it was Courtney Schiessl did a piece on the coverage of the court of master sommeliers one year after the cheating scandal.

So this was last, last fall. And at the time, there was no breaking news around the story. And this was long before the sexual harassment story in The Times broke about the court. This was really just investigating what had happened to all of these sommeliers in the year, since the scandal and how they had reflected on some of the structural changes that had allowed this whole situation to happen. 

Um, and readers just loved it. It went viral and I'm actually told that that Julia Moskinfor her New York Times piece on sexual harassment at the court used a lot of what we left on the cutting room floor as the foundation for her piece. Um, so that was one of our, you know, you'd be surprised.I mean, we, we do a lot of science coverage, really geeky pieces on understanding terpenes, microbial terroir in wine and a deep dive into malolactic fermentation, and these pieces do really well for us as well.

Um, and then a lot of our logistic pieces, how to start a spirits brand without a distillery, how to start your own canned cocktail brand and the logistics and compliance aspects of that. Um, trucking, trucking shortages in New Jersey, um, business insurance reevaluation, you know, these pieces that have real practical takeaway for operators, um, is something that, that is, I think, unique to us and something that readers really appreciate. 

Hanna (09:48) So you guys have been covering a lot about, you know, how women's role has evolved in the wine and spirits and beer world. So what do you see as a next chapter for women? 

Kristen (10:00) For women, I mean, I think you're seeing a lot of women take leadership positions. Um, I think it's interesting in the way that the black lives matter movement has sort of played out in the wine and spirits industry. A lot of the thought leaders are women.

Um, they were, you know, black feminists first and, and now they, they have these leadership qualities they're able to translate to other platforms and, and issues that need addressing. Um, the way that we did a piece recently on how politicized our industry has become. And a lot of the leaders. In that movement. I mean, in wine and spirits, businesses and profession and industry professionals, taking a stand on political issues and, you know, um, lobbying for Congress, even, um, working on championing, get out the vote initiatives. 

These are all led by women that found their voice in our industry. And that's only increasing. I think it's really encouraging. I mean, we think we still have a ways to go, but this pandemic has in many ways been an opportunity to reevaluate some of these things like the, the sexual harassment at the Master Quartermasters is one of them. Um, but just restaurant culture in general, maybe this is an opportunity to say we don't need to go back to the way things were. We can, we can re envision more equitable places where there isn't this kind of autocratic, um, hierarchy and everyone's voice is heard and there's….you know, more, more respect and kind of human consideration for one another men and women.

Michael (11:31) Well speaking of representation, we really enjoyed your story in SevenFifty about, uh, the sommelier from Zimbabwe who's re-imagining the South African wine industry. Yeah Tinashe…

Kristen (11:40) Thank you for reading that. 

Michael (11:41) Oh, absolutely. And fascinating story. Very, very inspiring. But what do you think the takeaways are for the US where black-owned brands are trying to get a foothold?

Kristen (11:52) Right. I mean, I think, you know, I've spent a lot of time in South Africa and the country as a whole is still so plagued by apartheid and the way that the effects of that are still being felt. So in some ways, racism is more pronounced there, but there's a lot of parallels. Um, In terms of inclusion, for example, and what Tenashe the, the, the sommelier he's actually from Zimbabwe and, and became one of the most famous sommeliers in the South African wine scene. Um, and what he shows is, you know, a lot of these initiatives to sort of, you know, quick fixes to, to encourage inclusion and, and window dress, um, your corporation. They're not sustainable or lasting what's necessary. And what, what Tenashe presents is someone who was really nurtured and along the way, found allies and became the top of his game as a sommelier and then created a wine brand. 

And I think that's what's needed here too. So it's, we need to start nurturing, um, Careers earlier on, we need to start encouraging all people of color to want to join this industry as younger people, and then mentoring them and building them as professionals so that they will have the skillset and the networks necessary to create their own wine brand or lead a wine company.

So that's, that's the hard, long work. And that's where. I mean, I am encouraged right now. I feel like a lot of companies are being held accountable, um, for their pledges to increase diversity and being inclusive. I mean, I'm not talking just large companies like Diageo and Pernord Ricard yet smaller companies are holding themselves accountable. And the hard work begins now is, is bringing more diversity in, nurturing these careers and allow giving them space to blossom and a seat at the table. 

Michael (13:39) So speaking of the future, if you have your crystal ball handy, what trends are you predicting for the drinks and hospitality space? 

Kristen (13:46)
Trends. So we spend a lot of time focusing on, on trends, whether it be, um, the trends that are going to dominate the holiday season. Um, and then, you know, looking ahead like the beer world was, was dramatically impacted by the pandemic. Um, in a lot of disparate ways, what, what trends do we see in beer that we think will stay? I mean, then I think, you know, we're looking at that across all sectors. Um, regionality plays a huge factor here. I was speaking with a major wholesaler in New Jersey last week.

Uh, he was reporting a 40% increase in his business due to, you know, Pennsylvania restrictions on alcohol being so strict. And so a lot of Pennsylvania residents coming into New Jersey to purchase alcohol. But then as well, the major factor he cited was that 1 million New Jersey residents are not commuting to New York City every day like they used to. So they're spending all that time and money in New Jersey. 

And so his sales were through the roof. I mean, if you speak to a wholesaler servicing the New York metropolitan area, it's a dramatically different story. So there's a lot of signs for optimism believe it or not. I mean, you know, this, this trend towards premiumization is continuing in a really strong way. There there's a very healthy appetite amongst consumers for fine wine and fine dining experiences and whatever shape that can take.

Um, this trend we saw earlier on towards, you know, people cleaving to comfort brands, that's dissipating a bit, and we're seeing this, this renewed interest in discovery and imported wines and, and, and more niche products, I think, which I think is really healthy. Um, I think something that, that, that will change that the worst that we're seeing already that I think will last is this, this evolution in distribution. 

So it's, it's been, you know, for example, you have right now, Craft producers, a lot of craft distillers, having a really hard time, getting their products in the hands of consumers. At the same time, you have a lot of these major brands. I'm talking huge brands in major categories like tequila, whiskey, um, um, cognac that retailers can’t keep on the shelves. 

There's, there's huge shortages due to demand. So how, how do we change distribution to allow some of these smaller products to find their consumer base? And there's a lot of new models being developed right now. Like you have shareholders with libdib. Um, there's a ton of other, other companies like this, trying to create new logistic models that enable smaller producers to reach the consumer. And I think that that's something that, that we are gonna continue to see, um, to see more of. 

I mean, I think the way to that, just even the way that the 2020 has changed the sommelier profession in so many ways that we're, we're doing a lot of investigation on this. And the sommeliers I talked to a lot of them don't necessarily want to go back to the job they had. The pandemic has been this opportunity to reflect on life balance. 

They don't want to go back to closing every night at 3:00 AM. A lot of them are moving into sales and consultancy and food technology. Um, but again, maybe it's this opportunity to reimagine restaurants as these more equitable places with more humane hours. And maybe that means reevaluating what a reasonable guest expectation looks like. So these are, I think all the questions that we're asking ourselves now, and we'll continue to.

Hanna (17:28) Agreed. I know there will be a lot of lifestyle changes both professionally, but also personally. You mentioned that you tore up your editorial calendar in March. That being said, how far in advance do you plan your coverage?

Kristen (17:42) Yes. We've, um, we've learned our lesson not to plan too far out. I mean, there's certain things we know we'll always cover. We're always going to talk about, you know, rose trends in the spring. We're always going to talk about, you know, this grilling RTD categories, but, but we're really planning more short-term in terms of what, what we cover, um,

You know, in terms of people who want to pitch us, I always remind everybody we are a trade magazine. So we're looking for pitches from brands and from writers that are really targeted to our audience of professionals. We're not interested in lifestyle or consumer ideas, you know, we're never going to publish a story on 10 great rosés for your next pool party. Um, I recommend people to look at our site. 

We have a very general editorial calendar up there that gives them some basic themes for 2021. Um, you know, I've seen a lot of pitches for, for profiles. You know, people who want me to write a profile of their product or this bartender or the sommelier, we will do those but it's rare. What's more interesting to me is to, to hear about how a person or a product fits in the context of a greater trend.

For example, um, again, we do a lot of operational and how to stories, which do really well for us. So if you have a bartender who's created a canned cocktail, what were the logistics behind how she did that? What experience and expertise can she share with our readers from that experience of creating her own brand? Um, if your brewery pivoted really successfully by using crowler canning technology to package draft beer, um, how can you position that story into the greater context of how other successful operators are doing that too?

You know, another opportunity for coverage with us is I work with a lot of industry thought leaders on op-eds. So these could be very opinionated pieces with strong points of view, which is fun for us because most of what we do is, is produce strong, reported journalism. This is an opportunity to showcase, you know, first person narrative and strong opinion and people really like to hear from, from these people. So if, you know, if you have, if your brand or your company is associated with a really interesting person with a, uh, an important arguments make, this is a great way to try to get covered as well. 

Michael (19:56) Excellent. So speaking of features that, uh, everyone looks forward to, uh, the Bartenders to Watch is one of the most anticipated of the year. So how are those bartenders actually chosen? 

Kristen (20:08) Yes. So every year we take a different approach. We used to base that piece at Tales of the Cocktail and so we would have bartenders coming from all over the country. Um, and you would get sort of this cross-section of really fun, interesting up and coming generally young people, um, to choose from. We've moved it around to different locations over the years.

This year we took a pause on it and we produced a piece called 10 Black Drinks Innovators to Watch where we looked at lesser-known black entrepreneurs in the beer, wine, spirits, writing space. And it was, it was actually a really interesting opportunity for us to shine the light on some voices that, that don't get enough, get as much attention as they should. And readers really responded well to that. Um, but next year I do believe we'll turn, we'll go back to bartenders and that who knows what it will look like next year, who knows where we'll be next year with bars. 

Michael (21:04) So, I mean, obviously, you know, this is a moving target, we're entering a new era, post-pandemic, but you know, looking back, I'm sure you went to tons of tastings, right? There seems like there was a tasting every day in the industry, either wine, spirits, beer. Obviously, that's not the case now during the pandemic. So how are you staying on top of the industry? 

Kristen (21:26) Well, as you know, there's, uh, a lot of virtual tastings that are happening and that's been interesting. It's, that's been, I've attended quite a few. There's new companies trying to package wines to make these possible at a larger scale. So you can send out hundreds of little samples rather than hundreds of large bottles, which is economically not, not feasible. Um, I think that, you know, we, we did a piece on the future of trade tastings and talked to a lot of leaders in the industry. 

And you know, when you have things like VinItaly and Vinexpo and ProVine that can't go on, that's probably okay for a year. It's not sustainable. We are an industry that really needs to come together. There's no real replacement for some of these large-scale events when it comes to identifying new categories and connecting with new producers that want to come to market. So I'm very hopeful that that will return next year. 

Hanna (22:22) We really hope so too. Zoom, as much as we love it, can't really capture a large-scale testing event. Are you seeing any other tech innovations? 

Kristen (22:33) Well, the pivot to e-commerce, which is, you know, our, our industry as a whole has been a little slow to adapt to the digital world. I think that's largely due to a lot of these state-by-state regulations that are so specific to our industry, that, that make it more difficult to do that compared to fashion or other industries. Um, that changed real quick in March, when you know, retailers especially take New York for example, we have a really strong, independent retailer market. A lot of those retailers didn't necessarily have the most sophisticated e-commerce platforms, but they realized very quickly that's how people were going to be purchasing wine and older and older demographic that maybe hadn't hadn't ever purchased wine online began doing that. So that's another trend that, that is not going away this trend towards, towards e-commerce. 

In fact SevenFifty and Beverage Media, we have a business that we have Bev sites, which we've been hosting for a number of years and we've now launched storefronts, which is the combination of several other companies, too. We are powering the, e-commerce stores for retail shops. And this is a really growing business right now because even small retailers know this is critical to their success in this, in this new landscape. 

Michael (23:50) Interestingly, you bring another perspective, uh, to your job, uh, your husband Charles, owns Bieler Wines and comes from a long line of wine-making in his family. Question, has this proximity to the wine business, you know, this, this front row seat to it, as it given you a different outlook on the industry? 

Kristen (24:11) Absolutely um, for, in so many ways, you know, there's this very romantic vision of what being in the wine businesses, even from people in the trade and anyone who's worked harvest or had to sell wine, understands that that's just a part of it. And that's what entices us all to join the industry. The reality for it well, for my husband's business is having to sell and having to be out in the marketplace. And that's been a really challenging year for him.

I mean, he's luckily a lot of his wines sell very well at retail, but for example, one of his businesses is a wine on tap business called Gotham Project and a hundred percent of their clientele was restaurants. So that business has had to pivot real quick. He started putting a lot of his wine in bag and box, and then he started a return and reuse bottle program for retailers to eliminate glass waste, which is just taking off now and spending time. In Europe and understanding the way that Europeans view wine and wine production. 

You know, it's our kids, which we live in Harlem and they see their father selling wine. We have wine all over the house all the time, but they've never been to a harvest sadly because they're in school. So they haven't really connected it to the land in a way that we, we hope to show them some point. We actually, we took them to Europe. Uh, we enrolled them in school there last spring, and they had a month of living in South of France, um, walking through the vines and we want to get them back for harvest, they can really connect the dots and see that this is this agricultural product it's different every year, no matter how hard you plan you get what mother nature gives you.

Michael (25:56) And it is hard work. 

Kristen (25:48) It is really hard work. 

Michael (25:49) People don't appreciate that, but it's incredibly hard work. So Bieler Wines was at the forefront of, uh, the rose movements. Uh, so what do you see as being the next big trend in wine that perhaps we're not aware of yet? 

Kristen (26:03) You know, I would say this trend towards sustainability, which is something that a lot of wineries are pursuing in all parts of the world, but it's something that now really means something to consumers. I’m amazed, less older, less older consumers, but, but I'd say anyone 35 and younger, this is, this is a selling point that actually matters and consumers want traceability and they want to know not just are the grapes organic. Um, but were they producing in a way that that took care of not only the planet, but the people that worked at that winery, are they paying a fair wage? These are the kind of questions that are going to be asked of producers in any wine region. 

And I think that producers are aware of that. And so we're seeing some really positive movement in that direction. So I think that the entire viticultural community, um, again, all over the world is, is looking at these questions and, and taking really proactive steps. Um, in ways that other agriculture crops are not. So viticulture is at the forefront of that in a really organic way. Meaning it's coming from within, it's not being forced down by laws or regulations. 

Michael (27:14) Yeah. It's an issue that's very close to our hearts, as well. And now for the listener question, segment of our podcasts, uh, we have a question from Anthony Baker, Cocktail Professor at Momentum Mixology , who wants to know if you foresee a reversal of the tariffs that have been so damaging to the beverage trade.

Kristen (27:32) I think until we have a, until the EU figures out, how we're going to resolve this dispute, meaning, you know, the whole tariffs is because the EU is favoring Airbus and is penalizing, which we believe penalizes Boeing until that issue is resolved. I don't see it going anywhere. From what I understand, I'm very close with Ben Aneff who launched the whole US Wine Trade Alliance to fight this. Once tariffs are put in place, they're extremely hard to reverse, even though all the evidence is there. These tariffs are doing more damage to US businesses than they are to EU producers. Um, so I think we, I think we're probably stuck with them until, until the tariff dispute is resolved from the EU. Unfortunately. 

Michael (28:18) Unfortunately indeed.

Hanna (28:20) You know, when we were coming up with the name of our podcast, we wanted something positive, but also very optimistic. So we came up with Hospitality Forward. In your opinion, Kristen, what innovation have you seen that are moving our industry forward? 

Kristen (28:37) I would say, um, the adoption of technology. It's been a long time coming, but we're finding new ways to incorporate it in all tiers of the industry. And people can be threatened by it by the fact that it could eliminate jobs or that it's cutting out certain chairs. But I think ultimately it's a positive. It's going to create more access for product it's going to create. It's going to grow the consumer base. 

Um, for example, our parent companies, SevenFifty, we have amassed a tremendous amount of data across all three tiers and it's, it's enabling us to, um, use this. We actually, we plan on that for SevenFifty Daily we plan on using this data a lot in, in the future, um, to develop market insights that let us really know what's happening in the industry. You know, the data we have now is, is very, it's not complete. It's in many areas, it's leaving out restaurant channel sales, um, in non-chain markets. You're not getting an accurate picture of what's going on. It's not including independent retailers. 

So having access to real time data is going to allow us to, to really dissect trends and see where consumers are and where they're going. Um, so we we're, we're using our data and, and, and our technology to really build a more interconnected network across all three tiers, not replace people, but just better power us and create a better community. And, and where we are in the world right now. I mean, we need community more than ever. 

Michael (30:57) This was great. 

Kristen (30:58) Thanks so much to you, both. This was a lot of fun. I appreciate it. Bye-bye.

Hanna (31:11) What a fascinating chat. Now that you know, what SevenFifty Daily and Beverage Media cover, please pitch Kristen, your timely story ideas.