00:00How unusual am I as a case study in someone who drank, I mean, I drank for the team for most of my life, but just recently got on a streak that I, you know, don't really feel like I need to stop.
00:13And so I'm happy to have Ghia instead of Veuve Clicquot.
00:17Well, thank you so much for having me and thank you for the kind words.
00:20It makes me so happy to hear that you discovered it's in a restaurant.
00:22This is exactly the way that we want to introduce the product, you know, through the culinary world so that it doesn't feel like you're missing out on that social interaction.
00:30But you're definitely not alone.
00:32People are drinking less.
00:33I think across generation, people are wanting to sleep, sleep more, sleep better.
00:37People are wanting to live longer and better lives.
00:41And in general, there's just like a million different reasons to sort of cut down on alcohol.
00:45The research, you know, is there.
00:47We can't really say that a glass of red per day is good for you anymore.
00:52And so you're definitely not alone.
00:54So, Melanie, the no and low alcohol beverage market is valued at $18 to $20 billion globally in 2025.
01:02I had no idea.
01:04With North America as the fastest growing region, what's your market research telling you?
01:09What are your customers telling you here?
01:12I mean, it's absolutely crazy.
01:14You know, like I said, I think that there's just so much research now that basically explains that there's no amount of alcohol that's good for you.
01:20And people are so focused on wellness that there's a million different reasons to kind of try these drinks.
01:26Now, it's interesting because Gia's customer, if you layer it with the market data, Gia's customers, 90 percent of them are drinkers, alcohol drinkers that are looking for moderation.
01:35And so I think that where, you know, people are just trying to drink fewer alcoholic drinks that are better and then just feel better outside of that.
01:45You know, a lot of people who have given up drinking in the past few years have done so because they can easily switch to THC.
01:53You take a gummy, you hit a vape, and you go to the party and have just as much fun.
01:58Then maybe you're looking for a Gia instead of a seltzer.
02:02Do you actively market to that crowd, to the weed crowd, because they are more likely to reach for one of your beverages?
02:10You know, not really.
02:12There's this really popular trend right now called zebra striping, which is basically alternating either something that will give you a physical effect, like alcohol or THC,
02:20and then something that doesn't just to sort of moderate your consumption but still, you know, have a fun night or a night with effect.
02:28And so that's definitely something that we use in our messaging.
02:30But outside of that, I think that THC is still quite controversial, and people honestly don't need me to figure it out.
02:37If they're already exploring outside of the alcohol world, it's like we're pretty easy to find.
02:41So in general, we try to have a broader message.
02:44Melanie, can you talk to us about just about the product, Gia, that Matt liked so much?
02:49Tell us about that.
02:50It makes me so happy.
02:51So, you know, I'm French and Italian, and this is a very classic Amaro.
02:54So if you think of a Campari or an apple spritz, Gia would sort of be their distant cousin, 100% natural, made with only pure juices and extracts.
03:04It has no added sugar.
03:05It's very satisfyingly bitter.
03:07It sort of gives you that signature dryness.
03:09It's really hard to recreate when you don't have alcohol, when you don't have the tenants of a wine.
03:13And so, you know, the Negroni lovers will love it, but it's definitely much better for you.
03:19And we have a concentrate, and we have spritzes, and, you know, we're now pretty widely available because we just launched at Whole Foods, Rayleigh's, Paris Teeter, a lot of retailers.
03:28So we're super excited for the growth that will hopefully come out of dry January this year.
03:32How do you get to, I mean, obviously being in Whole Foods or, you know, one of these high-end grocery stores, I'm sure, is very helpful to your brand.
03:41But you do want to get to sommeliers, right?
03:44You do want to get into the kind of luxury restaurants where Paul has dinner every night.
03:49How do you woo that crowd?
03:52You know, it's very difficult, and we are in over 1,000 menus in America right now, and that's one of my, you know, prides and joy, and it was also one of the hardest things for us to do.
04:02It's a lot of relationship building.
04:04It's a lot of sampling people that maybe today are more open to it because I think the supply has sort of driven the demand for these drinks.
04:11But five years ago, didn't, you know, we're not interested in hearing about us at all.
04:15So it takes time.
04:18I think so.
04:19It's interesting.
04:20So what's kind of the next step here, Melanie, for your company and the growth of your company?
04:26Well, we just launched a new blood orange flavor, which we believe is going to be our number one flavor.
04:29It's very approachable, very easy to understand, but it still has this sort of signature dryness and still is core to all of our, you know, 100% natural commitment.
04:39And that product is launching at Whole Foods in January, specifically for dry January.
04:44So we're really, really excited.
04:46That's what I had, actually.
04:48I had the blood orange.
04:50You did?
04:50Yes.
04:51Good?
04:51Oh, yeah.
04:52Absolutely delicious.
04:55What about the online sales?
04:57I mean, when I think of, you know, Paul wanting to get hold of this stuff, I don't know how likely he is to go into Whole Foods, but he might look for it online.
05:06How much of your sales do you do there versus brick and mortar shops?
05:09You know, still 20-something percent and another 20-something percent on Amazon.
05:17People love the fast shipping that comes with Amazon.
05:20And because we launched in 2020 in COVID when people could only find us online, I think we still have, you know, a pretty strong subscriber base that likes to order on the Internet.
05:30So drinkgear.com is where you can find us, but also on Amazon.
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